In spite of all the chaos from the night before, with Riley hiding in the truck of Ji and Kate's car without anyone's knowledge, the plans to see Santa were still good. With the city still working to get back to a normal function, the people who had come back or who had been trapped inside needed a lot of cheering up and the holidays were just the thing to bring that happiness back into their lives. Whether they were Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, or atheist everyone was coming together and celebrating the holidays. Everyone had a reason to get together with their families and take some time to just relax and enjoy.

For the kids especially, Santa was making his way around the city. He was appearing in as many public places as he could, and would accept lineups of kids, no matter how long. Today, he made a trip to the mall and while parents tried to gather enough Christmas presents for their kids, Santa would keep the kids entertained. He would have them sit on his lap, listen to their long wish list, and with the help of a few very talented elves, he would put on a few shows. All the kids had smiling faces. All the kids were excited to see Santa.

Except Terran. Riley took her new little cousins' hand and tried to walk him up to Santa but Terran wouldn't have any of it. It was something of a funny sight whenever a kid was scared of one of the jolliest men in history. Serena stuck close to Terran, trying to reassure him that the stranger who was trying to get him to sit on his lap was nice. Riley even demonstrated first for Terran, and had gone a little overboard explaining her list and her situation to Santa.

But even when it was his turn, Terran wouldn't have it.

"Maybe next year," Serena hugged her son close and Terran gave Santa a dirty look at Serena carried him off.

"Watch the look, little monster," Mike gave his nephew a gentle pat on the head, "Santa's a good man. He's in charge of all the presents. You don't want coal, do you?"

"I took a buttload of pictures," James held up his camera to show Serena, "Wedding blackmail for sure."

"I can't imagine why anyone would be scared of Santa Claus," Kevin said with a shake of his head, "I mean… he's Santa."

"Mom and dad took me to Santa for the first time when I was five," Mia shook her head and tried not to laugh as she remembered the moment. Her family didn't really celebrate Christmas, as their focus in life was less on faith and more on Samurai training, but it had been something Mia had been asking about, as other classmates could speak of nothing but Santa a Christmas during the entire month. "When it was finally my turn, and Santa told me to sit on his lap, I remember screaming and punching him… well, there's a reason Santa doesn't have kids."

"Ouch," Mike, Kevin, and James all winced at the story.

"Mia! Mia! Mia!" Riley suddenly started to tug on Mia's hand as she tried to run ahead, "Toys!"

Mia, and everyone else saw the toy store was ahead, but while they were watching Terran and Riley and spending time together going around the mall, Noa, Mako, Patrick, and Christina were doing Santa's job and they were buying gifts for Riley and some for Terran. Riley's parents hadn't gotten the chance to leave anything behind for her, and just because it would be Riley's first Christmas without her old family didn't mean it had to be a bad Christmas. Lauren had already given Mia and Kevin some good advice when it came to Riley. They had to be careful and patient with her, but they couldn't be too soft on her either. She had lost her home, her friends, and worst of all, her family, but she still had a whole life ahead of her and she had been fortunate enough to fall into caring arms. Getting through Christmas, whether it was a good or bad time, would be good for Riley.

But the little girl was still at the age where all her gifts could be bought at the toy store. If Riley went inside, either Mia and Kevin would have to be the bad guy for the good cause and say no to everything she wanted to buy, knowing their parents likely already bought it for her, or they risked bumping into the grandparents and Riley would see what she was getting for Christmas before the big day.

"Look!" Mike was almost just as excited for Christmas, and he had told the Samurai stories of how he would try to sneak an early peek at his Christmas presents, but now that he was on the adult end of Christmas he was a good ally for the parents and he knew how to curb the child's enthusiasm, "Candy store!"

Riley's eyes lit up as she darted off with Mike, having forgotten about the toys for a sweeter treat. Kevin and Mia groaned, but it was the lesser of two evils in the long run.

Suddenly, Riley came running back, "Mia, I'm going to the candy store."

Mia smiled, "Thank you for telling me."

Riley smiled back and darted off again, chasing after her uncle Mike, who already had a bag of candies in his hand which he was trying to keep away from Riley.

"Look at that, she learned something," Kevin wrapped his arms around Mia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Mia nodded.

"Now if only she can keep that up."

-Samurai-

On the other end of the mall, Ji was looking around for a gift for Kate. She was his first girlfriend and his first girlfriend over Christmas. He wanted to get her something special but had very little practice with gift giving for girlfriends. He had no idea what to give her as a present.

And with so many options, he felt overwhelmed. There were things he thought she would like, but they weren't enough. There were things that were more than enough, but were a little inappropriate. He thought of jewellery, but Kate didn't wear much anyways. He thought of her hobbies, but like him, her life revolved mostly around the Samurai lifestyle and looking after her two Samurai girls and their families.

Suddenly, he got an idea. It occurred to him as he looked through the window of the store. With a huge grin on his face he walked right in, excited for this gift.

-Samurai-

"We haven't decorated the tree yet, Emily," Ellie said as she knocked on Emily's bedroom door. "Why don't you come out and help your father and I…?"

"It's okay."

Ellie shook her head and walked into the room. She normally didn't barge in, but she remembered what her mind had been like after coming home from her Samurai duties. She didn't want her daughter to live through the after-trauma of the war. Being a Ranger was more than enough stress for a lifetime.

"Sweetheart, you can't just sit in your room and dwell on what's happened," Ellie caught Emily looking at news pages on the internet, and from the pictures she could tell the pages all had something to do with the Samurai, the Nighlok, or the war. Ellie turned off the monitor and then unplugged the computer. She didn't care what happened to it. Emily had left Panorama so she could move on and the computer wouldn't do her any good.

So she dropped it out the window.

"MOM!"

"Internet is slow out here anyways. You don't need it. You always used to help us decorate the tree. It's a tradition I'd like to get back to."

"I can't believe you'd drop a computer from a second story window," Emily looked down at the broken machine, "Mike and Antonio would have you murdered, you know."

Ellie shook her head, "The computer is stupid anyways. There's nothing but crap on the internet."

"Yeah, but mom…"

"I made cookies and pie."

"Mom…"

"Emily, you came here to feel better. I've been through this before. At least give my way a shot. Don't you want to go home for Christmas? I sure as hell want to see my grandson."

"Do you like the Rangers?"

"Of course I do."

"But what if you weren't one of us. What if you didn't know what you knew about being a Ranger. Some guy on the bus said…"

"Is he a Samurai?"

"Well, no but…"

"Is he a Ranger?"

"No, but mom…"

"Then his opinion means absolutely nothing."

"But all those people…"

"Don't know anything. I had to learn that after my time. No one but my team and my family will ever understand what it's like to be a Samurai. No one but me will understand my journey and my life. Everything those people say about how you're not a hero, how you let people die, what did they do? What did that man do? Do you know?"

"He… he said he hid in his basement."

"What did you do?"

"I defeated Xandred. We defeated Xandred. But after that, mom. What did we do after that? People out there are still hurting and…"

"After Xandred," Ellie thought about it and then shut her eyes, trying to hold back the tears. She had almost lost Emily. She should have lost Emily. The Samurai had been blown out of the Megazord and blasted to several different points in the city. They had all been so close to dying that Ellie had started to think of her speech at her daughter's funeral.

And it had taken weeks before any of the Samurai were strong enough to get out of bed.

"That man, and all those people have no idea how much you've suffered. How much you've sacrificed. That's the cost of being a Ranger and keeping your identity a secret. No one will know your story but everything thinks they have a right to judge. You need to ignore it, Emily."

"Ignore all those people? I can't."

"I'll help you. And we'll start with the tree," Ellie held out her hand and Emily took it. "Maybe, your father will let you put the star on the top."