On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

87 - Hope / Stoic

"Hey Jayden." Antonio caught him entering the house through the front door.

Jayden just came back from running outside and chatting with Mia.

He was cold and sore, so the last thing he wanted to hear Antonio say was, "Let's go for a walk."

"It's really cold, and you expect me to walk around with this?" Jayden's cane clacked against the wooden floor with every step.

"Then let's go for a wobble." Antonio pleaded as he shook Jayden's arm. "I'll bring a cane too."

Jayden felt an urge to whack Antonio with the cane for making fun of him, but simply let out a sigh.

"Why do you want to walk with me?" Jayden asked, assuming that Antonio had ulterior motives.

"I want to talk to you about something important." Antonio confirmed Jayden's assumption.

"Then let's do it there." Jayden gestured towards the living room with the sofas. "Nobody is there."

"That's what you think, but everyone here is notorious for eavesdropping." Antonio wasn't wrong.

It wasn't hard to find Daisuke peeking through door creases to check up on the rangers.

"Fine, we'll go outside." Jayden gave in. "But I don't want to walk."

They both put on jackets before heading outside, walking down the stone path to the gardens.

The two of them walked past Mia, who was still reading, and sat on a bench further into the garden.

"You want to talk about Lauren, don't you?" Jayden sat down, resting his cane beside the bench.

Antonio nodded.

Jayden took a deep breath, mentally preparing for the conversation to go south.

"When Lauren gives her spirit to the sealing symbol and seals Xandred, she will lose her life, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Jayden's reply disheartened Antonio.

"Have you explored other options?" Antonio spoke as if he was pleading.

"There is no other option." Jayden didn't mince his words.

"But what about what I just did. I temporarily sealed the gap with a nighlok's spirit." Antonio was hoping for some ray of light, any spark of hope.

"A nighlok spirit is an evil spirit. It's not a good idea to permanently seal the gap with a raging force of evil." Jayden shut him down again.

"And your temporary seal is not guaranteed. Xandred has the power to break any seal unless the seal is placed on him. The only reason he can't break your seal is because he is ill and weakened. So the nighlok have no choice but to wait until it fades." Jayden explained.

"Okay, but does it have to be Lauren's spirit? It can be anyone else's, right?" Antonio ignored Jayden's paragraph.

"The sealing symbol works by taking the user's spirit. Not to mention it would be unethical to just use anyone's spirit to seal it." Jayden kept knocking him down with reason.