Christmas morning, Mike woke up full of excitement, especially once he remembered where he was spending the holidays. Serena had given him the best gift he could ever ask for. Just when he had given up on spending his first married Christmas with his wife, she had surprised him and everyone by arranging a trip up to her family's farm. Everyone got to come together over the holidays.

Energetically, Mike rolled over in bed to wake Emily, excited for the presents under the tree, but there was no one beside him. He sat up and looked across the room. With so many people, he and Emily couldn't get a room to himself and he had to share with James, Serena, and Terran. He looked to the other bed, thinking maybe Emily had a nightmare, couldn't wake him up, and so went to be with Serena. But it was only James and Serena in the bed.

He looked to the crib. Terran was gone. For a split second he panicked. He knew the Nighlok were gone and there was no more danger, especially on the farm, but he had grown so used to there being trouble everywhere he couldn't break the habit quickly. He did calm himself down, though, and climbed out of bed.

No one was awake yet, which somewhat surprised Mike. He was on a farm, and he knew Jack took farm work seriously. Though it was winter, and there was nothing he could do for the crops, the animals were still very demanding, and caring for them was a lot of work. Jack, at the very least, should have been up.

So Mike went to check the barn to see if his father in-law knew where Emily and Terran had gone. Winter was cold on the farm, so he made sure to grab his boots and winter jacket.

He walked out in the snow. Overnight there had been another snowfall, covering the fields in a fresh, white blanket and making the already perfect Christmas better. Mike eventually made it through the foot and a half of snow and into the barn where he had a look around.

"Careful, Terran. Never behind the horse."

Mike saw Emily scooping Terran up in her arms, stopping the little boy from running around wildly while a horse was out of his stall to be groomed. Mike chuckled and approached his wife.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I've been up for hours and it's Christmas," Emily turned around and smile brightly when she saw Mike, "You should be sleeping in."

"You've been up for hours?"

Emily nodded. She handed Terran over to Mike and pulled out a brush for the horse. As she stroked the horse's back gently she sighed.

"Another nightmare. If I take my mind off Samurai stuff, I feel better."

"Where's your dad?"

"Sleeping in," Emily said. "Terran and I snuck into his room and turned off his alarm. This is normally when he wakes up, so I'm sure he'll be here soon anyways."

"You took care of everything?"

"Cows and goats are fine, they just need to be milked soon, which dad can do. Eggs are collected, the animals have been fed, and I've groomed most of the horses, after letting them outside for a run," Emily said, "There's just Stormblazer who needs his coat cleaned. Even with all this snow, he still finds the pile of poop and rolls around in it."

"Is that what I smell?" Mike asked and pinched his nose. He looked to Terran, "You are no longer the stinky one."

"Ba!" Terran cried and nestled into Mike's arms happily. He was a little tired, but Mike assumed he had gotten up with Emily, who also looked tired.

"How long have you been up?"

"I told you, hours. How else could I get all this done?" Emily gestured around the barn. From what Mike could tell, everything did look good. All the animals still inside seemed very content (though he was no expert). "I'm feeling a little better, though."

"Does being here help?" Mike asked.

"There's enough to do. It takes my mind off what's going on back home."

"Emily, the city's going to be fine. Everyone's going to be fine. It's an adjustment period."

"A guy on the bus said something to me," Emily was done with the horse and put away her tools. She opened the barn door and led the horse to the field just outside the barn. When she came back, she sat down beside Mike, "We're supposed to protect the city, right?"

"We did."

"But what are we doing now? People are still hurt and here we are celebrating Christmas and having fun? What did we lose? Shouldn't we be helping them?"

"You lost Scruffy, remember."

"People lost their children," Emily growled. "And Riley's whole family is dead. Scruffy's just…"

Mike wrapped his arm around Emily as her eyes began to water. Terran leaned into his aunt, trying to be of comfort now that he saw she was sad. With his little hands, he did what he could to wipe away her tears.

"Scruffy was part of the family," Mike shook his head. "People have no idea of the sacrifice he made for them. Without him, Serena would be dead, and everything she did to help us defeat Xandred… she figured out about his weak spot! We couldn't have won without her. Without Scruffy's sacrifice. We can finally grieve for him."

"Mike…"

"And the Zords. Em, they're all dead. They all died."

"For us."

"For the world. They gave every ounce of their energy to destroy Xandred. Without their sacrifice, everyone would be dead. And the Bear's like my brother. He is my brother. I miss him."

"I do miss Monkey," Emily looked down to her hands, "She used to wake me up Christmas morning. She was more excited than I was. Mom would always bake a special treat for breakfast for her. It was really sweet."

"And Mia lost her dad," Mike added. "It's her first Christmas without her father. I'm sure she's upset over that."

"But we're the Rangers."

"We're human."

"We're in charge of protecting people."

"We're human."

"We have to do something."

"What more can we do? We saved the world, Emily. We deserve to be normal for once. I've got a job, you can go back to school. People will heal. We will heal."

"I want to do something. I can't let it go."

Mike shook his head, "Emily…"

"I want to help. It's all I can do. People out there are still hurt. This isn't a Merry Christmas for them but it should be. Instead of…"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't help people, but I think it's time we put ourselves first. Our whole lives has been about protecting the world and it's Christmas…"

"But all those people…"

"What about all those people," Mike pointed out the barn door to the house, "Everyone came here to spend Christmas with you. Our parents are hauling their asses up here on Christmas day so we can all be together. We're the only people on this planet who know how much we sacrificed. How much we've lost. Mia's dad is dead. We've lost parents. Scruffy's dead. We've lost a beloved pet and a best friend. Our Zords are dead. We've lost family. Carrie's dead."

"Mike…" if Emily hadn't been upset before, she was now. She pulled away from her husband and turned her back to him.

"Our daughter's dead because of this war," Mike stood up and wrapped his arms around Emily, holding her close, "No one will ever know the sacrifices we've made for them. If they want to blame us, that's fine. If that helps them grieve, then whatever. But they'll never know. You need this, Emily. We all need this. People can say whatever they want – but as long as they choose to keep their heads shoved up their asses, they're the assholes. Not us. You can help them later, but can you spend Christmas with us?"

"I should be four months pregnant," Emily whispered and touched her stomach.

"Before you can help others, you need to take care of yourself. We need to take care of our family. We can start, by ending this year, and starting the new one on a positive note. The whole family's here on your farm. The world is safe. There's finally peace. We can rest without having to worry about a Gap Sensor going off, or wonder who might get hurt or die today," Mike leaned forward and gave Emily a kiss on the cheek, "Merry Christmas, Em."

"Merry Christmas, Mike," Emily looked up with a little smile. Her tears still sparkled in her eyes and Mike could tell she was still hurting. He hated himself for playing the Carrie card, but he had to do it. The Samurai had suffered just as much, if not more than everyone who blamed them. He would never stop her from trying to help, but he wouldn't let her help if it was going to cause her to suffer even more.

"Presents?" he asked, exchanging his sympathetic look in for a playful, childish grin, "I saw what Santa left under the tree. There's a mountain of gifts!"

"Breakfast. And we wait for your families to come first," Emily shook her head. "We do Christmas the right way this year."

"Auntie Emy! Uncle Mike!" Riley came racing into the barn and grabbed her aunt and uncle by the jackets and started to pull, "Santa came! He knew where I was! He left presents and I'm not allowed to open them until you guys come!"

"What about your sobo and…?"

"Everyone's here!" Riley said and pulled harder on the jackets, "Hurry! Hurry!"

"They're here?"

"Come on!" Riley cried. Mike put Terran in Emily's arms, scooped up Riley and raced outside to check for himself. There were extra cars on the driveway, and one of them belonged to his parents.

"Emily! Hurry up!" Mike started bouncing in the snow, and Riley bounced in his arms. "The parents are here! Presents!"

"Hurry! Hurry!" Riley called as well.

Emily looked to Terran, who was covering his ears with his hand to block out all the excited shouting.

"On Christmas, it's hard to believe he's two years older," Emily told him and rolled her eyes, "Your Uncle Mikey's just a really tall kid sometimes."

Emily looked out as Mike raced Riley back to the house and then pretended to fall in the snow to give her a fair chance at winning. Emily smiled brightly.

"But he's right. C'mon, little monkey. Time for Christmas. You're going to love it. Santa spoiled you this year."