James got out of the shower and saw it was past midnight. He groaned as he dropped his laundry in the basket and pulled out a new pair of pants. Storm followed him, whining the whole way.

"Well, you shouldn't have peed on me."

Storm tilted her head to give him a look and James sighed, "I got mad because my wife isn't home like she promised. I have a reason."

As James pulled on a fresh, clean pair of pants he looked to his phone. He picked it up and noticed he had one missed call. James could only assume and hope the call had something to do with Serena, and unfortunately it looked like she had gotten herself into a bit of trouble. She normally carried her phone with her, and her losing it was never good.

Deciding he wouldn't leave Storm home alone again, he clipped her leash to her collar and took her with him outside. Just as he locked the door, Storm began to bark and tug on the leash. James turned to see why and noticed someone running up his driveway. When she ran under the street light, James saw it was Serena.

"Where have you been?"

"In jail. Long story. I need to hide."

"In jail? Serena, what's…" James couldn't finish his sentence when Serena snatched the keys from his hands and opened the door, letting herself in. She stormed upstairs to the bedroom and started to pack a few things in a bag. She was innocent, and running wasn't the best idea, but there was no way she was sitting around in a jail cell while people accused her and her team of murdering the town. No one knew the story behind being a Samurai Ranger. No one could possibly understand.

She needed help. The Samurai needed help. Ji had many contacts who had helped before and would surely help again. Until everything was settled, though, Serena and the Samurai were going to have to hide.

She rushed into Terran's room, grabbed a few of his toys and his belongings, filled the rest of the bag up with them and then raced back downstairs, where James was waiting by the door. She put the bag on her shoulders and then leaned over, scooping Storm up without really coming to a stop.

"Run, James!"

"Run? I have a perfectly good car…"

"Just run!"

James had no idea what was happening, but he trusted Serena and so he took off running, following her footsteps and trying to keep up as best he could.

-Samurai-

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop it! It hurts."

"Maybe next time you won't get shot," Kate said as she finished cleaning Emily's leg and wrapped it back in bandages before putting the brace in place. "There. All clean."

"It feels like you stung me with hundreds of bees," Emily sat up and touched her leg, massaging it gently while Kate cleaned up the old bandages and the used supplies.

Mike walked into the room, looking a little tired from getting up early but still awake. He had woken up alone in his bed and he knew Emily was safe and sound on the couch, but he didn't like lying awake in bed alone. Wanting to check up on her, he got up early.

"Morning, Em," he leaned forward, giving her a kiss. Emily huffed.

"No, it's not."

"Cleaning out the wound?" Mike chuckled and looked to Kate. She nodded her head.

"She'll thank me when it heals without an infection. That's the last thing we want right now, right, Emily."

"Considering last time she let herself get so sick she had a seizure, I agree," Mike added and looked to Emily, "but I'll try to be a little gentler than Kate."

"Can we go home, now?"

"How about some TV?" Kate offered Emily the remote before getting up and walking to the kitchen to make the house breakfast. Emily happily took the remote and turned on the TV.

"Zombie!"

"No!"

"C'mon, Em," Mike whined, "It's morning. Zombie horror movies can't be that scary in the light of day. They're actually ridiculous."

"I'm the one who got shot."

"Please," Mike looked to Emily with his version of the puppy face and she caved, handing him the remote. Mike smiled happily and sat down on the couch, letting Emily lean against him while they watched one of his favourite movies.

-Samurai-

She had been supposed to sleep, but Lauren found she couldn't. With the New Year came a new life, and Lauren had so much planned she had to get it all down on paper. She had places she wanted to see (and really see, not just travel by as she went from one location to another), she had things she wanted to new, new experiences to be had, and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her family and getting to know them. Everyone else was so close, and they were doing their best to include her, but there were some times Lauren felt out of loop. By the end of the year, she wanted to have jokes and games with her friends, and she wanted to fit seamlessly into the group.

"That list is taller than you are," she heard someone say and turned around. Kevin was standing by her door.

"It's a to do list."

"Alright, even I'm not that wound up. What could you possibly need to do?"

"Not need to do. Want to do," Lauren passed him the list with a smile, "I can finally put being the head of the Shiba Clan, the Sealing Symbol, and all those years of training behind me. I can finally have a life that I want to live. So this is what I want to do this year."

"There's… a lot on that list," Kevin shook his head and then looked to Lauren, seeing she seemed a little disappointed. He let out a breathe and shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, a year's a long time. I'm sure we'll get it done."

"We'll?"

"Isn't that number one on your list?" Kevin pointed to the very top, "Spend time and bond with family?"

"Yeah, but you guys have done all this stuff before," Lauren said with a sigh, "I mean, you and Mia want to get married on Valentine's Day and I don't even know what that is. And, well, you're getting married. I've never been on a date."

"That doesn't mean you're alone. Look, right here: go on a date. Find a girlfriend. Mia's going to be begging to help you with that."

"Really?"

"Go fishing. See what Antonio likes about it? Yeah, Antonio's not going to let you go fishing without him. Learn to skateboard, you're going to need someone to teach you, and Mike's going to want to help out. Ride a roller coaster? Once Emily can walk again, you two are going to have a blast at Rainbow's End. Surely you're going to find something to do with Jayden, Mentor, and Kate, considering they really are your family and… you don't know how to swim?"

Lauren blushed and shook her head, "Not… really?"

"You're kidding? You're Lauren Shiba. You're the Shiba. You've spent years training to be the most amazing Samurai this world has ever seen. Without your help, Xandred would have destroyed us and everyone on this planet. And you can't swim?"

"I can walk through fire without getting burned… if that means anything."

"It means you can't swim. Alright, change of plans. I was going to invite you to tag along with Mia, Riley, and me to the park, but we're going to the pool."

"In winter?"

"Indoor. Riley can't swim either. I'm a swimming teacher now and my first lessons were a bit… sloppy. You help me figure this teaching thing out and I'll help you learn to swim."

"Wait, with Riley?" Lauren looked a little uncomfortable and shook her head, "You're going to teach me and Riley the same lesson?"

"Yeah, so?"

"That's… humiliating. Kevin, I've been training with men twice my size and double or triple my age since I was a little girl. I've kicked their asses and defeated them with skills they could never hope to achieve. Now you're telling me I've got to train alongside a four year old?"

"Is it more humiliating than going to the beach this summer and drowning?"

Lauren gave Kevin a harsh glare, "Alright, I'll train with the kid. But I am not wearing those puffy air arm things."

"Water wings?"

"Yeah, water wings. Whatever. I'm not wearing them."

"Z… ZOMBIE!" Emily's scream could be heard from the common room. Lauren was a little startled, Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, twerp. I'm not a Zombie, I'm tired."

"Serena?" Lauren and Kevin both asked themselves as they walked down the hall to see Serena and James were finally home after being out all night, and both looked exhausted.

Kevin crossed his arms over his chest, "And where have you been?" he pointed his look at Serena. At least James had told the others he was going out to find Serena. Serena had vanished the night before without really explaining why or where she would be.

"Jail. Can I sleep? James will explain everything," Serena set Storm down and tried to leave the room. Kevin grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Jail?"

"It's a long story," Serena sighed.

Lauren wanted to listen, but her attention turned to the kitchen as Kate hurried out. She looked just as worried as Serena was tired.

"Kate?"

"Everyone needs to leave now."

"What? Why? What's going…?"

"In about twenty minutes, this place is going to be surrounded. The Shiba House has been discovered. They know the Rangers live here."

"What?" everyone gasped.

"Just get out! All of you!" Kate shouted.

Kevin shook his head and raced for his bedroom, calling for Mia and Kevin. Lauren and Serena did the same as they went to get Jayden and Antonio, and Terran from their rooms. Mike, with a little help from Kate, hoisted Emily on his back. If they had to run, Emily was going to need help.

"Kate…"

"You're going to be fine," Kate promised Emily, "Someone in the city must have known something…"

"Those robbers found out I was a Samurai. I had to use Symbol Power to protect Riley and they put two and two together. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay," Kate nodded, "Ji and I will try to throw them off. Just stay together. All of you."

"C'mon!" Jayden called as the others all raced to the door and it seemed even without knowing what was happening, Jayden was taking the lead. Mike didn't need to be told twice and took off running with the rest of the Samurai and James, who made sure to grab Storm as he raced by.

Kate looked over her shoulder as Ji came rushing into the room. He had been in the kitchen with her and kept his eyes and ears glued to the news while Kate warned the others. Kate saw him and shook her head, "Emily said the robbers…"

"Serena was arrested last night," Ji held up a picture of sketch of a person who looked a lot like Serena. "She was arrested and escaped last night."

"That's… what?" Kate took the paper and looked it over for herself. It was Serena, and the name given was Serena's, but Kate read the description and shook her head, "That's Emily."

"Kate, it's obviously…"

"This," she pointed to the picture and the name, "is Serena. This," the pointed to the description, "is Emily."

"What?" Ji took back the paper but didn't have time to read it all over before he heard sirens wailing in the distance. He and Kate looked to each other before she pulled him in for a kiss.

"Lie your ass off."