Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, Saban does.

*Italic indicates thought

Chapter Twenty-Six: Epilogue

A/N: hello my people! I've finished this story, I know its sad. This is just a quick little epilougue. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed; followed; favorited; and supported this story. I've got many ideas for a new story in the works, but I'll let you guys vote on one.

1. Another samurai story involving mostly Jayden and Antonio, not slash, that's pretty dark.

2. A multiple team story involving: PRNS; MMPR; PRS; and PRM.

I'll leave the voting open for a week before I make my decision. Anyone reading this after its over, please feel free to review and let me know what you thought. Enjoy, vote, and review!

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal; love leaves a memory no one can steal." -an Irish gravestone.

-4 Years Later-

Lauren was kneeling at Antonio's grave in the sunlight She ran her hand over the soft grass. Someone laughed behind her. She turned and grinned at the small girl chasing the butterfly. Everyone said she looked like her mother, which was true. She had Hispanic skin and dark eyes like her father though.

Ji hadn't spoken to Lauren for two weeks after she'd announced her pregnancy. But he came around in the end, mostly because Lauren and him had both been teaching Jayden the sealing symbol in secret in case something had ever happened to her.

"Antonia!" Lauren called. "Come here, Mija."

Antonia stopped her attempts to catch the butterfly and went to her mom. Lauren wrapped an arm around her lovingly. She kissed the top of her forehead. Antonia was so much like her father, it honestly scared Ji and Jayden. She loved to run around and play in the yard. Along with collecting butterflies. She loved them so much her aunts had painted some onto the walls in her room.

"Mama, aren't we coming later with the others?"

"Yes sweetie, but I thought it might be nice for us to come now. Just the two of us." She pushed back a stray strand of her daughter's hair.

"Mama, can Daddy hear us?"

"Of course he can."

"I talk to him all the time." She took Antonio's now disabled morpher out of her pocket. She opened it up and held it up to her ear. "Hi Daddy."

Lauren smiled. "Sweetie, why don't you talk to him without the...uh...keepsake?"

"Ok." She shut the morpher and put it back in her pocket. She carried it everywhere with her. She even put it on her her bed-stand at night. She had ever since her Uncle Jayden had let her keep it after he found her playing with it.

"Mommy, did Daddy, love me?"

Lauren played with her hair some more. "Sweetie, we talked about how Daddy went away before he could meet you. But he would've loved you so much."

"Like Uncle Jayden?"

"More than Uncle Jayden. Tell your dad what you did yesterday."

"I caught a big fish! It was huge! And Uncle Jayden couldn't get it off the hook."

"Yes," Lauren agreed.

"Mommy," Antonia said looking at the rock. "How did Daddy die?"

Lauren rubbed her daughter's back. "Oh sweetie. I've told you a million times."

"I wanna hear it again. Please?"

"Ok. The monsters, nighlocks, they made a plan that put all the samurai in danger. And your father saved us all. In a single act of bravery, he saved us and the entire world. But unfortunately that act cost him his life."

"Daddy is a hero."

"Yes he is."

"I want to meet Daddy."

"You will someday Mija."

"Daddy, I have pictures of you when you were little," Antonio said. "In a book."

Lauren smiled. The pictures from Antonio's room now resided in a scrapbook Emily had put together for her niece. The jar of money still sat in Lauren's closet, for Antonia to use when she was an adult. Antonia was such an adorable girl. None of the rangers could resist her. She obsessed over butterflies, the way her dad had obsessed over fish. She had a love for Spanish, and all her favorite foods had some form of seafood.

"You," Lauren said, playing again with her hair, "are just like your father."

"Daddy, Uncle Kevin says he's gonna teach me to swim! I'll be just like a fish."

"Yes," Lauren laughed. It was hard to believe in two days, it would be four years since Antonio's death. Four amazing years she'd had her daughter. Her beautiful, smart, and kind little girl. She felt an undying love for her. Lauren knew by looking at her that love never truly died. It was just re-born in the form of a new love. She'd lost Antonio, but gained something else. "I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too Mama. Te amo, Daddy." She leaned forward and kissed the rock. "Mama, do you still love Daddy?"

"I do," Lauren said touching her necklace. "Very much so."

"Does he know that?"

"I certainly think so." She pulled her daughter into a tight hug, crying a little. She felt Anonia hold the fish shaped necklace in one of her small hands. Lauren planned on giving it to her one day. She thought about Antonio, and all he'd been to her; all he could've been to his daughter. She said the words she still whispered at night when she could see all the stars; in the early morning when the light was pale; when she stood at the docks and looked out at the water, smelling the sweet, salty sea air; when she sang Antonia to sleep at night. She said the words that had destroyed her when they meant something she could never have. But had saved her when they meant something that would be her future.

"I love you."