Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

Mike packed up his suitcase and pressed it down. He had to sit on top of it to zip it back up, but everything managed to fit inside. It was heavy, but with his clothes and souvenirs for himself, Emily, and all his friends and family back home, it was worth it.

Emily was doing the same with her bag, but she was packing a little slower – having to stop when she took the souvenir for Mia in her hand.

After defeating Xandred and destroying all the Nighlok for good, as well as sealing the Netherworld forever, the Samurai's parents gave them a little push into their new lives as normal people. Serena and James, Mia and Kevin, and Antonio and Jayden had all gotten their own homes to start their new lives and new families in. Because of all the attacks, the houses were so cheap they were easy to afford and pay off almost right away. People were so desperate to leave behind the town that had almost gone to hell, they were practically giving their homes away.

Mike and Emily didn't get a home, though. They had gotten a honeymoon, and an amazing one at that. Their parents had paid for everything. Aside from souvenirs, Mike and Emily hadn't had to spend a dime, and they had nothing to worry about while on the beautiful islands of Hawaii. It was the most relaxed they had been… ever, and they knew that when they got home, they had a room with Serena and James. It wasn't ideal for Mike, having to live with his sister in-law, but it gave him to opportunity to start saving up some money so he and Emily could afford a place of their own. Though he would never turn down an offer for a free house, there was a sense of pride that came with paying for it himself and providing his wife and their future family with a house.

On their honeymoon, they left everything behind. They Skyped with their friends back home a couple of times, but for the most part they had forgotten about nearly everything in Panorama. There was no drama, no conflict, nothing to think about. But the trip was coming to an end, and the closer it got to the time where their plane would take off and force them to leave Hawaii forever, the more Emily started to think about what she had to go back to.

As far as she knew, it wasn't much. Mia was still home, she knew that much, but she didn't know where the pink Ranger stood; if she had made any effort with the others, if she even wanted to be a part of their family again, or if she even regretted leaving them all behind.

And still, even if things had been resolved, they hadn't been resolved for Emily. Mia's leaving had burned her badly. Mia had taken off selfishly, like her mother had done, without a goodbye, like her mother had done, and without promise of ever returning, like her mother had done. Emily simply couldn't let that go.

She didn't want to let Mia go, though. She had always grown up admiring Serena and needing that older sister figure in her life, and just before coming to the Shiba House she had to watch as her strong, brave, sister withered away slowly. Serena was alive today, thankfully, and very healthy, but there had been a time in Emily's life where she needed a sister and didn't have one. When she left for the Shiba House, she had felt truly alone. She had no contact with her parents, no idea what would happen to her sister or if she would ever see her again, and she was essentially trapped inside a house with people who she didn't know, and for the most part she didn't even really like. Ji had been intimidating, Jayden had been anti-social and a jerk to her when they first met, and Kevin took a lot of getting used to. She had a little crush on Mike from the moment she met him, but that only made it harder to talk to him, and without her sister to give her advice she was a little scared. Mia had been the first person she really felt safe with. She couldn't throw it all away and she was willing to give Mia a second chance.

If Mia worked for it, though. She wouldn't be getting off lightly. Emily was forgiving and trusting to a fault, but once people hurt her, they had to work to earn it all back.

Mike took Mia's souvenir from Emily's hand and stuffed it into her bag. He packed everything up for her and smiled.

"Everything's going to be fine."

Emily nodded her head and sighed as she got up, "I really wish we could stay in Hawaii forever. There's too much back home."

"I miss home, just a little bit," Mike shrugged his shoulders, "Besides, don't you want to go home and see everyone again? Your sister, James, Terran, Storm…?"

Emily smiled brightly as she thought of her family, "Can we bring them here?"

"Got money?"

"Nope," Emily pointed to her suitcase, "I spent it all on gifts."

"Then we have to go. Hurry up, we're going to miss our flight."

"Oh yeah… that part."

"You'll be fine."

"That's what you always say."

"We haven't crashed yet."

-Samurai-

It had taken a little convincing, but Mia managed to convince Riley to move in with meanie Kevin. It wasn't always easy for the couple to sort everything out, but they were starting to feel confident they could make it. They had both been hurt, and the wounds would take a little more time still to heal, but they were healing.

It also helped that they had their own little side missions to keep them distracted from time to time. More people were coming back to the city and businesses were starting up again. Kevin was looking out for a job, hoping to find something that would help him earn a couple bucks and possibly lead him into a career. He had a few leads, most of which involved working at the city pool, but so far no real promise of a job.

Mia, meanwhile, was keeping herself busy by trying to locate Riley's family. She had gone back to Riley's house and found a list of emergency contacts and cellphone numbers. Unfortunately, most of the numbers were within Panorama City. Mia hadn't been able to reach anyone, and had absolutely no leads on where Riley's friends and family could be and more than ever she believed them all to be dead.

Riley didn't seem to care so much about her family. At night when she had nightmares she still screamed for her mother, and sometimes when she heard the door opening she would run to it and call for her father (only to be disappointed when it was just Kevin). Once or twice she had even called for her brother. But for the better part of the day, she was just a carefree child.

An excited, carefree child. She knew Mia was the pink Samurai Ranger and had promised to keep the secret from everyone (even the other Samurai, who she had no idea were Samurai). She would play pink Power Ranger games all day, and even insisted Mia show her a few moves. When Mia wasn't busy with Kevin or trying to find a home for Riley, she would train the little girl, and she did so without worries. Unlike her grandmother or her mother, Mia could train Riley knowing she would never have to use her skills to fight monsters. She would never have to send Riley, or any other child, off to war and ask them to carry the weight of the whole planet on their shoulders. It was a good feeling, and Mia enjoyed training so much more.

But she was still frustrated with finding Riley a home. More than anything, she wanted to give the little girl a good life.

Kevin came home, entering quietly so as not to disappoint Riley, and walked into the kitchen to find Mia. She was on her laptop, looking up the names of those reported deceased and those reported missing. Already a few of Riley's contacts had been confirmed dead, and Riley was never reported missing. There was still no one looking for her.

"Don't stress yourself out," Kevin said as he rubbed Mia's shoulders to help her relax, "Something's going to come up. In the meantime, Riley's always got a home here with us. She's fine."

"What if they're all dead? What if no one's looking for her? You heard the vet: hundreds of pets had been abandoned by their owners."

"A parent wouldn't do that to a child. Not to a little girl as sweet as Riley. If someone's out there, they're going to come looking for her. Have you called Ji? You left the number to the Shiba House at her parent's house."

"He promised to call as soon as they did," Mia shook her head. "I'm serious, Kevin, what if she's got no one?"

"She's got us."

"Kevin…"

"Give it a little time. If no one starts looking for her soon, or if everyone is dead, we'll keep her."

"She's not a dog, Kevin. We can't just…"

"Mia," Kevin chuckled as he sat down beside her and took her hand, "We can keep her."

Mia gave him a skeptical look and then glanced over her shoulder. They didn't have many games for Riley at the house, so Antonio had brought over his Wii and a Power Ranger Samurai game. Riley was tiring herself out as she pretended to be the pink Ranger and fight all the monsters on the screen.

"Are you saying…?"

"It's a little sooner than I would have liked," Kevin nodded his head, "I mean, the plan was get married, be married, and then start a family, but there's a kid in need."

"I know I threw a bit of a tantrum about the fact that I can't have kids, but I don't want kids now, I mean…" Mia looked back at Riley again, "You're right. You're totally right. She's lost so much already. If she can't go home with someone she trusts and loves, the best thing for her is to stay here."

"We'll let fate decide," Kevin gave Mia a kiss. She smiled and closed the laptop, taking a break from her search for now.

"So how did the job search go?"

"Nothing much. There's just some guy at the local pool who's looking for a swim coach."

"And…?"

"A lot of people are gunning for the job."

"And…?"

"None of them would ever come close to being considered for the Olympics."

"And…?"

"I got a job! He hired me on the spot!"

Mia's eyes widened and she threw her arms around Kevin, holding him in a tight, loving hug.

"That's amazing!"

"Turns out, the city almost flooding scared a lot of people. Everyone wants to learn how to swim. It's not a lot of money, but it's a start. I'll be teaching kids, seniors, adults, teens…"

"Teens?" Mia asked with a sly smirk, "Like boy teens?"

"Boys and girls. Why?"

"So, teenage girls?"

"Yeah."

"You're going to be teaching hormonal teenage girls?"

"It'll be tough, but I think it'll be pretty fun."

"You'll be teaching hormonal teenage girls while wearing nothing but a tight bathing suit. A tight pair of basically underwear."

"Yeah… What are you getting at?"

"You love me, right?"

"Of course."

"Then this is going to be hilarious," Mia gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek before getting up and walking to the living room. "Alright, Riles, let me show you how a real Samurai does it!"

-Samurai-

Jayden's trip to see Antonio's father and meet his future father in-law had been…

Antonio thought it had been hilarious. Jayden had gotten so nervous and Mr. Garcia had a sense of honour. He had always liked Jayden and from the moment Antonio reintroduced them Antonio could see his father was proud to see Antonio had chosen a good guy, but Mr. Garcia had spent most of the visit messing with Jayden. There were more than a few embarrassing stories to tell.

Jayden thought it had been embarrassing. Mr. Garcia had got him, and he got him good. Jayden didn't leave his future father in-law's house on a bad note, but he wasn't planning on returning anytime soon, mostly because he was a little too humiliated to show his face again. If he didn't see Mr. Garcia until the wedding day, that would be okay with him.

Lauren was finding it to be very interesting as she listened to all the stories Antonio had to tell and it was great blackmail to use against her brother. Though she had decided to stay with Ji and Kate at the Shiba House, she visited her brother and Antonio often, wanting to stay close with them. Jayden was her brother, and she had been motivated to work her entire life so she could go back to him, and Antonio was quite obviously the love of his life. Though he sometimes drove Lauren crazy, she always made the effort to get to know him and get on his good side. If he was important to Jayden, he was important to her.

"So then, Jayden turned bright red, looked to my dad and all he could say was: that's not mine!" Antonio had tears running down his cheeks, and Lauren wasn't far from it as they were both laughing hysterically. Jayden, meanwhile, was in the kitchen, muttering about how it hadn't happened exactly like that.

"I said: I don't know what that is."

"Same thing," Antonio waved his off and turned back to Lauren, "You should have been there. I've never laughed so hard."

"I wish I had been," Lauren laughed and looked over to Jayden, "Make that face you made again when Mr. Garcia caught you."

"I didn't make a face. I didn't do anything wrong!"

"It looked like this," Antonio twisted his face strangely, trying to imitate one of the ridiculous faces Jayden had pulled while he was being pranked.

Jayden grumbled and shook his head, "You two only get along when you're making fun of me. Emily's right, big sisters do suck."

-Samurai-

Serena waited nervously at the arrivals gate at the airport. Mike and Emily's flight was due to land at any moment and she was there to pick them up. James and Terran were sitting on the bench a little further back, but Serena needed to be close to the doors so Mike and Emily wouldn't get lost.

Today wasn't a day to be nervous, but Serena didn't exactly have good news for the couple. She didn't have bad news, but it wasn't something they would want to hear. The incident involving Riley's kidnapping had gotten a little bit out of hand. As it turned out, the man who snatched Riley was working with a bunch of other people. Many kids had been left behind during the final battle and were waiting for their parents to return or for friends and family to come find them and the group the stranger was associated with decided to take advantage of the hardship to earn a couple bucks. They were snatching unsupervised kids in hopes of selling them back to friends and family for money. A few of Ji's friends had already gotten to work tracking all of them down, and now that the city was starting to come to life again the Panorama Police Department was also keeping an eye out for child snatchers. Riley, fortunately, hadn't been taken too far before Serena and Mia found the guy who took her.

And they had found him thanks to Storm. She had sensed trouble and as soon as the front door opened she bolted after the man. She managed to follow him into the city and led Mia and Serena right up to the alley where he was hiding. She wasn't a tracker by nature, and her hunting skills were reserved mostly for small prey, but when she was on a mission, nothing stopped her from her goal. Fortunately, she had made it her mission to protect Riley, and she had done a good job of it too. She found the man and attacked him.

Unfortunately, it had cost her. She was still at the vet's and if all continued to go well she would be okay, but she had taken a hard hit to the head which had knocked her out cold for hours. She eventually woke up on her own, and the doctors had assured Serena it was a concussion, but they were keeping the dog close for any signs of anything more severe. Storm was acting normal given her state, but she was a little wobbly and a little confused.

Emily wouldn't be happy to hear that. Twice she left on a trip and put her precious dog in Serena's care. Twice something horrible had happened to the dog. The first time was when Emily and James had gone to Japan to try out the possibility of curing Terran of his Nighlok life. An attack on the Shiba House had cost Scruffy his life. Now, Emily went on her honeymoon, left Storm in Serena's care, and though the dog wasn't dead, she had still gotten hurt.

When the airport announced the plane from Hawaii had landed Serena felt her stomach turn. James got up and walked over to her, pushing the stroller with Terran inside. He knew she was worried.

"It's okay. She'll understand."

"I feel like the dog killer," Serena shook her head. "She's never going to trust me with her dogs again. I'm never going to babysit my nieces and nephews! I've killed one dog and given the other a concussion. Who is going to trust me with a baby?"

James, and even Terran, looked to Serena liked she was crazy. Serena saw the stares and sighed.

"What do you know? You're obviously both insane for trusting me."

James took Serena's hand in his and gave her a comforting squeeze, "Storm's going to be fine. The dog's head is as hard as her mistress'."

"I hope so," Serena said and turned back to the gate to look out for her sister. Though she had bad news for Emily and was dreading sharing it, she was also a little excited to see her baby sister again. It had been far too long for Serena and she wanted to hear all about Hawaii. She had never gone on vacations or trips with her family during her childhood before her illness. In fact, aside from Panorama City and Japan, she had never left her hometown (and both occasions had been for Samurai duties, not for pleasure).

"Memy!" Terran suddenly shouted and slipped right out of his stroller to race off. Serena and James weren't exactly sure what they were supposed to do. He had been strapped into the stroller, so slipping out was supposed to be impossible, and he had just spoken his second word.

"Really? Memy before dada?" James grumbled while Serena chased after her son. Terran raced up the ramp and right into his aunt's arms, hugging her excitedly.

"I missed you so much," Emily lifted the little boy up and hugged him tight, "I thought about you the whole time we were gone."

"Ew," Mike wrinkled his nose and turned to Serena, giving her a hug as she welcomed him home, "Terran got away from you?"

"He's going to be trouble," Serena nodded her head and pulled her sister in for a hug, squishing Terran slightly. "How was Hawaii?"

"Between landing and take-off, perfect," Emily said, "Getting there and coming back, I could have done without the plane."

"You'd still be paddling," Mike chuckled. They cleared the way for other passengers and started the walk to the car, catching up to James who gave Mike a hug and then gave Emily the cold shoulder.

"What did I do?" she pouted.

James gave her a glare and then looked to Terran, "Who is that?"

"Memy!" Terran smiled and hugged his aunt again. James stuck out his tongue at Emily and then walked ahead.

"He's known me longer!" Emily cried teasingly and hugged her nephew. James continued to walk ahead, pretending to be angry. Emily whispered in Terran's ear, "I'm so holding this over daddy's head forever. High five, little monkey!"

As Emily chased after James to tease him about Terran's second words, Serena hung back. Mike was busy laughing, happy to see Emily cheered up after the flight, but he wasn't too busy to notice there was something a little off about Serena.

"C'mon, you can't be that disappointed I came back," he joked with her, "At least I brought Emily back. And I promise, we won't talk about the honeymoon… nights… and days… and…"

"Shut up. That's still my baby sister," Serena gagged and slapped the back of Mike's head. He chuckled.

"What's bothering you?"

"How… attached do you think Emily is to Storm."

Mike stopped dead in his tracks and looked Serena right in the eye, "What did you do?"

"Well… you see…"

"You're never dog-sitting again."

"Yeah, I… hey, you were with me when Scruffy died. If I remember right, he died in your arms."

"Storm's not dead, is she?"

Serena shook her head, "No! No way. I'm not that bad. She just… got hit…"

"Hit? Serena…"

"I didn't hit her. Someone else did."

"Who?"

"She did a good thing."

"So did Scruffy."

"We'll talk when we get home, okay?" they finally got to the car where Emily, James, and Terran were waiting. Serena helped Mike get his bag into the trunk and gave him a look. Mike shook his head and got into the car.