Chapter 38

The next morning Jayden and Nariko were at the pier, watching the sun slowly rise before them. The former red ranger gently held his fiancé's hand and softly said, "I wish I could stay…But I know that this is for the best…You could've stayed with them Nariko…"

"Like I said before Jayden…It's better that I went into hiding in order to have Lauren and the rangers focus on sealing Master Xandred away…Besides I've been by your side since the beginning and I'm not going to leave you now…"

Jayden sighed and wrapped an arm around his loved one, laying his head against hers "I just hope that the others can forgive me…"

At that moment Antonio was running along the pier searching for his best friends and much to his relief he spotted the couple a few feet away. The gold ranger ran up to his friends and stopped a foot away from them, "Jayden, Nariko! I've been looking everywhere for the two of you."

"You shouldn't have followed us." Said Jayden, "Lauren…The red ranger needs you."

"Listen…It doesn't make any difference to me that you're not the red ranger…You will always be my best friend." Told Antonio

Jayden smiled a bit at this, "Thanks…You know…For the first time in my life I don't know who I am…Everything I was…Is gone…"

"No you're wrong Jayden…" said Nariko, "You're still the guy I fell in love with and whether or not you're the red ranger…My feelings for you will never change…Never forget that…"

Jayden stared at his fiance in surprise but then he smiled a bit and kissed her head, "Nariko…Thank you I needed to hear that…"

"Hey…About a nice big breakfast, huh?" offered Antonio, "My treat. Things always seem better after a good meal."

Jayden's smile slowly fell from his face and gave a simple shake of his head, "I really want to be alone right now Antonio…"

The gold ranger simply shrugged his shoulders, "Fine be alone…But only after I return with some grub, be right back! It's just around the corner!" Nariko watched as Antonio ran off then looked back at her fiance, "Jayden…"

"It's time that we continued on Nariko…"

"Yes…You're right…"

Antonio soon returned to the pier after retrieving the food and much to his disappointment, he found Nariko and Jayden were gone. The gold ranger immediately set out to search for his two best friends again, 15 minutes pass when Antonio reached a local neighborhood still not able to find the samurai couple.

The fisherman then pulled out his cellphone and contacted Ji, "They took off again…I can't find them anywhere! We shouldn't have let Jayden and Nariko leave!"

"Maybe…But that's the way they wanted it." Told Ji

"Well I don't care! I'm going to keep looking for them!"

Meanwhile with Jayden and Nariko, the two held each other's hands as they walked through a forest. As they were walking, Jayden couldn't help but hold Nariko's hand a bit tighter, "Leaving the team was the toughest decision I've ever made…" "Jayden…" "What's my destiny now?"

Though before Nariko could answer his question, she immediately stopped in her tracks once spotting Deker standing a few feet away from them. Jayden stopped too and gently pushed his fiance behind him while staring down the cursed swordsman.

"So you're finally alone…Free from the burden of being expected to save the world…And you have your precious princess with you…I knew we had something in common from the moment I met you, hiding that secret made you twisted like me." Said Deker

"We have nothing in common!" told Jayden

"Maybe you don't think so…But I can see in your eyes, the same need to fight…The same need to prove yourself worthy…I was right to choose you as my ultimate opponent…We're both tormented by a fate we didn't choose…"

And just like that Deker slowly drew his sword Uramasa and aimed its blade at Jayden, Nariko tightly gripped her fiancé's jacket sleeve, "Jayden…Don't do this…" "Nariko I need for you to step back."

"Jayden please…You're still recovering!"

"Nariko I have to do this."

"But Jayden!"

The Yamada princess stopped her protesting once she noticed the look in her red ranger's eyes, she bit her bottom lip and reluctantly let go of her loved one's sleeve. Though as Nariko took a step back from her ranger she said, "Please…I'm begging you…Please be careful Jayden…"

"I promise Nariko…"

Jayden then pulled his knapsack off his shoulder and placed it on the ground, he stared down Deker and tightly clenched his fist "I know one thing…The world would be a better place without you Deker…Perhaps this is my destiny…"

He unraveled the bandage that's wrapped around his right hand then drew out his spin sword, "It's time to finish this once and for all!"

The two swordsmen charged at each other and clashed their swords together, as they pushed their swords against one another Deker questioned the red ranger, "A duel to the end?" "Your end!"

Meanwhile at the Shiba household Mia, Emily, Mike and Kevin watched as Lauren practiced by herself in the dojo. The rangers were amazed by their new leader's skill as she quickly and easily deflected the power disks that the Light zord shot at her. At that moment Ji and Takashi had returned from being outside, the samurai mentor studied his pupils for a bit then asked "Why aren't you practicing with her?"

The four rangers looked at each other before Emily took a step toward their mentor, "We want to go look for them…" "Jayden and Nariko would want you to help Lauren to complete your mission, to seal Master Xandred away."

"But what about-" started Mike only to have Ji cut him off, "The fate of the world rests on you working with Lauren."

"Ji and I will go find Jayden and Nariko…And all of you stay focus." Told Takashi

Mike reluctantly nodded at this, "Got it…"

Both Takashi and Ji quickly left the Shiba household to being their search for Jayden and Nariko. Their search ended up in the forest and they continued to call their names, "Jayden! Jayden!" called Ji

"Nariko! Nariko where are you!?" yelled Takashi

The older Yamada sibling and samurai mentor journeyed further into the forest, they soon stumbled upon Jayden and Nariko's things. Ji picked up the bandage that Jayden removed and stared at it in worry while Takashi gazed at his little sister's things with a frown upon his face.

Suddenly they heard the distinct sound of swords clashing in the distance, Ji and Takashi looked to find Jayden and Deker fighting upon a bridge with Nariko watching from a far. "Jayden! No…" said Ji

The samurai mentor watched in shock as Takashi darted off towards the battle and quickly followed after him, "Takashi wait!"

With the two skilled swordsmen and Yamada princess, Deker and Jayden continued on with their fierce battle not once letting up their attacks. "Uramasa has thirsted for this moment ever since you broke her into two." Told Deker, "My blade won't break this time! And I will be free from my curse!"

Their battle had moved on from the bridge and back into the forest, as the two swordsmen continued to clash Nariko continued to watch from a far feeling so helpless and worried for her fiance.

"Nariko!"

She immediately turned around and was surprised to see her brother and Ji running over to her, "Takashi, Ji! What are you doing here?!" the princess then accepted her brother's embrace as he tightly held her.

"All of us were worried about you and Jayden so Takashi and I left to find you both, to make sure you were ok." Told Ji

Nariko pulled apart from her brother, "I tried to stop Jayden from doing this but…"

The trio then looked to the two swordsmen as they heard something fell to find Jayden and Deker lying on the ground. Nariko rushed over to her fiance with Ji and Takashi following, "Jayden!"

Once reaching him, the princess knelt down in front of the red ranger grabbing his shoulders "Jayden please…You need to stop this!"

"Nariko is right Jayden, you must stop fighting you're still injured!" told Takashi

"Don't let him make you fight just for the sake of fighting!" said Ji

"Don't waste your breath." Told Deker, who slowly stood up from the ground "Get out of the way…You'll stop nothing…I will not let any of you stand in the way of our destiny!"

As Nariko, Takashi and Ji stood and faced Deker, the cursed swordsman readied his sword and charged at them. Jayden quickly stood up and grabbed Ji's arm, "No Mentor, Takashi, Nariko don't!"

Luckily Jayden managed to push through the trio, block Deker's attack and hitting him with one of his own. Though the force of doing this pushed Jayden back into Nariko, Ji and Takashi which resulted having them falling off a cliff they happened to be standing close to.

Jayden quickly held onto Nariko as they were falling while Takashi grabbed Ji, the older Yamada sibling looked at the red ranger "Jayden!" "I've got Nariko, Takashi!" "All right! Get ready this won't end well!"

Minutes later Takashi and Jayden managed to drag an unconscious Ji and Nariko out from the creek. Once they were on dry land Jayden looked to Nariko's brother who was checking up on the samurai mentor, "Takashi how's Ji?" "He's still breathing so he's fine for now."

The red ranger then turned his attention to the Yamada princess and soon became frightened once seeing that she's not breathing, "Takashi! Nariko's is not breathing!" "What?!" The older Yamada sibling rushed to Jayden's side as he began performing CPR on his fiance, "Come on Nariko! Come on breathe!"

And yet as the red ranger does this, he receives no response causing him to continue on, "Come on breathe! I can't lose you here! There's no way I'm losing you right now!" much to Jayden and Takashi's relief, Nariko opened her eyes and loudly gasp before harshly coughing out water.

"Nariko!" exclaimed Takashi, he gently cupped his sister's cheek "Oh my god…Don't scare me like that again!" "Ta-Takashi…"

Nariko is then pulled in close by Jayden who tightly embraced her, he lovingly kissed her forehead and whispered "I…I thought I had lost you there for a moment…" "Ja…Jayden…"

Takashi then turned to the unconscious form of the samurai mentor and began shaking his shoulder, "Ji! Ji are you ok?! Ji…Are you all right?! Ji! Ji are you ok!?" much to their relief Ji slowly opened his eyes. "Ji are you ok?" asked Jayden

"Yeah…" said Ji, he then sat up "I just need to get my breath back…That was a pretty big fall…" the samurai mentor rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the older Yamada sibling, "Thanks for the save Takashi." "No problem."

Ji then looked to Jayden and Nariko, "Well…We completed your father's plan, Jayden…" "Yes…And we did it well…You were a wonderful mentor, Ji."

"You were a good student, you also Nariko…Those years were difficult in many ways…But you were both strong and overcame every challenge…"

Ji laid his hand on the red ranger's shoulder, "I made a promise to both of your fathers…And I fulfilled it…Jayden you've become an excellent leader…You may not have the sealing power but you were truly the red ranger…I'm so proud of what you've become."

Jayden smiled at this and nodded at his mentor, "Thanks Ji…I think it's time you and Takashi left…Deker is coming to find me…I can feel it…"

"But…But Nariko…" said Takashi

The Yamada princess slowly stood up with the help of Jayden, "I'm fine Takashi…I just needed some rest…" "But you should still come back to the household with us."

"It's no use Takashi…Once Nariko has made her decision, she stands by it." Told Ji

Jayden nodded, "Ji is right…Nariko is really stubborn when it comes to these kind of things."

The samurai mentor then stood up with the help of Takashi, Ji then looked straight at his pupil "Don't fight Deker, Jayden…" "I've spent my whole life fighting as someone else…Besides…He'll never stop until this is finished…I have to defeat Deker once and for all."

Ji and Takashi shared a look with each other, the samurai mentor nodded and began walking away. Takashi looked back at Jayden and his sister "Then do it…We'll be rooting for you Jayden…" "Thank you Takashi."

The older Yamada sibling then stood in front of his sister and looked straight into her eyes, "Nariko…You look after yourself and Jayden." "I will Takashi…" thus the two siblings embraced each other and Takashi reluctantly let his sister go. He gave Nariko a small smile and a kiss to the forehead before taking his leave.

Though as soon as Takashi was out of their sights, Nariko collapsed right on the spot having Jayden quickly catch her "Nariko!" "I…I'm fine Jayden…" "No you're not! You need more rest…" the red ranger picked his fiance up and carried her over to a nearby tree, there he gently set her against the tree trunk.

"Stay here…I'm gonna fetch us some water." Said Jayden, Nariko simply nodded and watched her red ranger walk away.

A few minutes later Jayden was quietly sitting next to Nariko who was peacefully slumbering on his shoulder. The red ranger gently began to wipe his loved one's forehead with a wet piece of fabric he torn from his shirt. Jayden smiled a bit as he watched his fiance sleep, though his smile wiped off his face as he heard the loud cry of a horse.

The sound of the mammal immediately awoke Nariko, she quickly lifted her head off the red ranger's shoulder "Jayden?" "It's him…" Jayden quickly helped Nariko up just as Deker showed up riding a horse.

The red ranger firmly wrapped his arm around his fiance and stared down Deker who stopped his horse a few feet away. "Glad to see you didn't run away." Said the cursed swordsman "I never run away from a fight!" told Jayden

Deker just smirked at this, the red ranger then looked at his fiance "Nariko…" "I understand Jayden…Be careful…" "I will…" the couple shared a quick kiss and Jayden removed his arm in order for Nariko to safely step back.

Jayden then pulled out his samuraizer and used his symbol power to summon his horse. He got on his steed and pulled out his spin sword, "Let's finish this!" the two swordsmen charged at each other and thus continued their battle on horseback with Nariko watching her fiance in worry.