Jayden and Emily were at the jail within minutes after leaving the café, and arrived in time to see Ji and Kate were being let go. They were a little rough around the edge, considering they had spent a few days in jail and being roughly interrogated, but they looked happy to finally be released. Jayden pulled Ji into a strong hug and then started asking him a series of questions about the bruises on his face as well as the pain and stiffness that was obvious when Ji moved.

"I will be fine," Ji promised and hugged Jayden again, "All that matters is that you are well."

"Same goes for you," Kate said as she broke away from her hug with Emily to look at her niece. "You didn't have too rough a time getting away, did you? Did you find somewhere safe to hide? How did you convince the city to let us go so quickly?"

"I thought it would be another couple of weeks, at least," Ji added as he looked to Jayden curiously. Jayden turned to Emily for a moment. They smirked to each other before Jayden shrugged his shoulder.

"We've got a few friends. Contacts, if you will."

"Well, whatever gets us out of this hellhole," Kate said and started walking to the door, "I can't wait to sleep in a real bed."

"Um… Kate?" Emily called, "You've got a ring of bread around your finger. Are you saving it for later? Didn't they feed you enough? Don't they know you have rights?"

Kate took the bread off her finger, at it and looked to Ji apologetically for a moment before turning back to Emily, "We just managed to convince an entire city to forget about the Samurai and move on with their lives. Let's not tempt fate with our rights. The past is the past."

"I agree," Ji nodded. He walked ahead with Kate and took her hand, "I, for one, am excited for a shower. A nice, warm, refreshing shower to get the feeling of jail off my skin."

"Sounds nice," Kate smirked.

Jayden and Emily looked to each other. Emily stuck out their tongues.

"It's romantic when Mike and I do it, but it's creepy when they do it."

"Agreed. Let's just make sure they get home safely and then pretend this never happened?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Jayden played along and smiled, "You okay to walk all the way back to the house?"

"I'll have arms of steel, unless…"

Jayden groaned as he lowered himself, allowing Emily to jump on his back so he could carry her home.

"Lay off the cookies, Em," Jayden muttered and then was slapped on the back of the head.

"Hey! Don't call me fat! My feelings may be little, but they can still get hurt."

-Samurai-

Over at the hospital, things weren't making a turn around like they were just outside Riley's room. Head injuries were always very unpredictable, and though Riley had appeared fine for the first little while after being punched in the head, it all started to go south very quickly once she got to the hospital. Riley did have a very strong head, anyone could say that, but there was only so much it could take. In a very short time frame, she had survived a war and survived living on her own for several weeks, she had fallen down the stairs twice, she had been kidnapped (and Mia was sure the man who had tried to take her away hadn't been gentle with her), and she had been at the scene of an armed robbery. Mia couldn't count the number of times Riley's head had taken a hit, even a minor one, and she couldn't even begin to guess how many times Riley had been hurt before she had been put in Mia's care. Kids had a knack for getting themselves into trouble, and Riley was no exception. If anything, she had made a career out of getting herself in trouble.

Doctors and nurses had spoken to Mia about Riley, but she hadn't been listening. She couldn't listen. She was far too worried about Riley to pay any attention, and it wasn't like there was anything she could do to help at this point except stay with Riley. The doctors had gotten a look at her head and Mia could have sworn they had said something about recovery but she wasn't sure. She had heard them mention keeping Riley at the hospital for observation, and monitoring her closely in case her injury got even worse.

What was really painful was looking at Riley, though. She wasn't awake, but probably still in pain. She had screamed all the way to the hospital where she had passed out, pausing only a couple of times to vomit. She hadn't been able to tell anyone where exactly she was hurting, or how much it hurt (though a lot was a good guess).

Her little body lay still in the bed. The bed wasn't very big itself, but it dwarfed Riley in Mia's eyes. All Mia could do was stare down at her daughter and hope for the best.

She had been punched as well in the head by the man who hurt Riley, but she had been wearing a helmet. Still, she had a bit of a headache, which proved how hard he could punch, and how much he could hurt Riley.

Mia would admit to wanting to see him dead. He was a lucky man. She had been too worried about taking care of Riley to even think of getting back at him for hurting her.

Between the blacked out memories of all the talks she had had, she could just barely remembered one with Kevin. While the doctors had been taking care of Riley, ensuring she got the best treatment possible, Mia had gone to see Kevin in the waiting room and found him dancing with a reluctant Lauren. He told her he was happy because they were approved for adopting Riley, and that the little girl was, without a doubt, going to be their daughter. All they needed to do was sign a few papers, answer a few more questions, and tie up some loose ends. Mia was happy to hear that, but still very distressed by what was going on with Riley. She shared her concerns with Kevin, ranting on and on about how unpredictable head injuries could be and how scared she was that something really bad was going to happen to Riley.

He took her in his arms and she cried for… she wasn't sure how long, but it was possibly a long time. Then she could remember a doctor finding her and she rushed to Riley's room. She didn't know what the doctor said. The whole thing was a blur. Kevin would know more than she did.

She took her daughter's hand and squeezed it very gently. Riley was so fragile: so small, so young, so innocent.

"I'm going to take care of you," Mia promised with a whisper as she gently stroked the back of Riley's hand with her thumb, "No matter what happens, I'm always going to take care of you. Just please, Riles, wake up."

A light tap on the door barely caught Mia's attention. She turned around and saw it was Lauren coming in with a pink teddy bear. Everyone knew pink was Riley's favourite colour. It had been even before she had met Mia and knew about the pink Ranger. Riley had been a huge fan of the pink Ranger before she had been rescued by her.

"The gift shop downstairs was full of stuffed bears," Lauren shrugged, "I thought maybe it was because that's what you get people when they're in the hospital. Can't go wrong with pink, though, right?"

"It's a girl?" Mia asked after reading the shirt on the bear.

"It's not inappropriate. Congratulations. You're going to be an amazing mother."

"Do you think she'll be okay? She's just a kid, her brain's still developing. Her head is still…"

"She's a tough kid," Lauren promised, "She'll have to be to put up with this family. Kevin can't dance. Even I know that. Everyone in the waiting room knows that. Some grumps even pointed it out."

"I'm just… I'm so scared," Mia put her feet up on the chair and hugged her knees, "I got my tonsils out when I was little. Dad refused to leave my bedside the entire time I stayed in the hospital and even days after I was sent home. Every five minutes he asked if I was okay, how I felt, if I needed anything. It drove me crazy. But I get it. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. Never. This is such a horrible feeling."

"I can't imagine," Lauren placed the bear beside Riley on the bed and turned to Mia with a smile, "Is it sad I'm extremely jealous?"

"I need to punch someone. Turn your head; I can knock you senseless too."

"Not of that. I tripped and scraped my knee once. Given how intense my training was, it was nothing too painful, but my mentor and my guardians at the time all flocked around me as soon as it happened, and they did the same thing as your dad and as you. They stuck by me, tried to take care of me, and tried to make it better… only they never did it because they love me. Anytime something bad happened to me, they treated it like the end of the world. The older I got, the worse they got because they knew if I died, Jayden would never have the time to master the Sealing Symbol and neither of us had children yet so that would be the end for… everyone."

"I know it was traumatic, Lauren. And I feel for you, I really do, but enough with the no-one-loved-me, no-one-really-cared-about-me stuff. We get it. Your childhood sucked. But you have a family now. If something happens to me and Kevin, I'm letting you have my daughter…"

"I know," Lauren nodded her head and reached out, touching Mia's arm, "I know I have a family now. It's why I was so excited on New Year's. I have people in my life who love me and care about me, and not just because I had the Sealing Symbol."

"That did help a little," Mia shrugged.

"The thing that makes me jealous, in a good way, is that I finally have that again and I'm twenty-six. Twenty-freaking-six. Riley's four and she's already found two families that love her: her old one and her new one. Lucky little brat."

Mia chuckled, "She's spoiled. And she'll be even more spoiled when she wakes up. C'mon, little pink, you're okay. You're going to be okay."

"She's going to be okay," Lauren put a hand on Mia's shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze. "I'm going to try and find a place to eat. Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"No, actually, can you stay here? I really, really have to pee and if she wakes up I don't want her to be alone."

"Bring back some food," Lauren said, "I'm hungry!"

-Samurai-

Serena shook hands with the Ninjas as they stood at the bus stop. The city was calming down; people were working on grieving for their loved ones instead of getting revenge. It was safe for the Samurai to come home, and thought they hadn't convinced people their theories regarding the identities of the Rangers were false, the city didn't seem to care. Enough people were convinced they knew all they needed to know about the Samurai: they were humans, they had dreams and goals, they had families, and they had made huge sacrifices and suffered tremendous loss. They had been through enough. They had suffered enough.

So the Ninjas' work was done and it was time to say goodbye.

"We owe you big time," Serena said, taking the lead while Jayden was off with Emily getting Ji and Kate out of jail and Kevin was at the hospital with Lauren and Mia. "If you need anything…"

"We were repaying a debt," Dustin assured her, "It was the least we could do after what happened last time we saw each other."

"I told you, all's forgiven, even if there's nothing to forgive."

"You're wrong, but we'll take it," Tori gave Serena a hug, "Stay out of trouble. Don't make us rescue you again."

"And prove why Ninjas are better than Samurai," Shane smirked teasingly. Serena turned to him.

"What?"

"What?" he shrugged his shoulders playfully, "Nothing. Just, you know, making a true comment. It's not important."

"Yahuh," Antonio crossed his arms over his chest, "Ninja-Samurai duel. Name a time and place."

"Okay, I think it's time we go," Cam grabbed Shane by the arm and started to pull him away, "We'll keep in touch. Let us know how Riley's doing. Poor kid's going to have a pretty nasty headache for a while."

A bus pulled up to the curb and opened its doors. The Ninjas said goodbye one more time before the four got on and were then followed by the rest of the Academy. As many as possible were trying to fit through the doors, hoping they could catch the first of many buses that would be taking them back to Blue Bay Harbour.

"That's a lot of students," Antonio pointed out as he walked away with Serena, Mike, and James, "And to think, I didn't recognize a single one of them in the crowd."

"They're ninjas," James rolled his eyes, "It's their job to blend in."

-Samurai-

Jayden and Emily were cleaning up the mess left behind at the Shiba House. Ji and Kate had put up a bit of a fight before letting the police arrest them, which had resulted in them leaving behind a bit of a mess, but it was nothing two people couldn't handle. Because the Shiba House had been under investigation, everything had been how the Samurai had left it – aside from the mess of the struggle. No one wanted to move anything because it was all evidence.

"Jay, there's a bonsai there that looks like it can use a little watering," Emily said from the couch, "You know how Ji hates it when he loses a bonsai."

"You know, you're the number one cause of bonsai death between 2011 and 2013," Jayden pointed out as she got cup of water from the kitchen and poured some into the pot for the little tree. "If I were you, I wouldn't be preaching to me about how to care for Ji's plants."

"What about all the bonsai deaths between 1989 and 2011?" Emily asked with a playful smirk, "I may have knocked a few over, but I'm pretty sure I've heard a few stories about you torching thousands."

"A few? Thousands? Okay, I may have accidentally set fires to… some tiny trees, but if you look at the concentration of…"

"Lalala, tree killer, lalala!"

"Shut up!" Jayden tossed a pillow at Emily's head. She caught the pillow just before it smacked her in the face and then stuck out her tongue.

After that she turned to the hallway. Ji and Kate had finished their shower and were now resting in a real bed, and Emily had questions.

"Jay, don't you think your finger is a weird place to hold your food?"

"No," Jayden shook his head, "I mean, you can try holding it with your toes, but it doesn't work as well. You've seen Mike and Antonio try."

"We picked good ones," Emily rolled her eyes. "I mean… the way she was holding it. It looked like… well…"

"Like?"

"You know."

"I don't."

"Yeah, it looked like… it."

"It?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I really don't!"

"It looked like a ring," Emily said, "It was on her left hand, it looked like a ring. Do you think… you know, something happened in that jail cell?"

"Wouldn't that be awkward with the bars between them? They were in different cells and I don't think…"

"EW! Not that! Jayden!"

"What?"

"An engagement ring!" Emily launched the pillow at Jayden's head, "Ew, now I have that image stuck in my head."

"Oh… whoops. Wait, an engagement ring? You don't think…?"

"Strange things happen in prison, Jay. It messes with your head."

"You've never been in prison, before, Em."

"I've been imprisoned," Emily smirked. "So, what do you think?"

"We should have left you there?"

"About the engagement! You're mean!"

"I'm kidding, Em. I think… it's pretty cool. Kate's a nice person and Ji seems to really like her. I know I didn't at first but… there's just one thing."

"What?"

"Her nieces would be my cousins, right? If Ji and Kate really did get engaged and do get married."

"Yeah," Emily smiled brightly. Jayden hissed and shook his head uncertainly.

"Well, here's the problem… She's got one niece, about this high, bubbly, loves cookies, and really, really clumsy. She's kind of a pain in the butt."

"HEY! You're really mean!"

"You didn't do any cleaning!"

"I cleaned the couch."

Jayden tossed the pillow back at Emily, who deflected it with her arm and accidentally knocked over a bonsai.

"That's your fault!" the two pointed their fingers at the other.