On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

44 - Intent / Timing

It was past midnight. Jayden opened his eyes to dark surroundings slightly lit by a monitor.

His head was foggy and it took him a second to notice he was home and in the medical room.

Soon enough, he took notice of the wires attached to his chest and his sister kneeling beside his bed.

She looked as if she was sleeping with her head resting on end of the mattress, which looked quite uncomfortable.

Without thinking, Jayden rested his hand on her back, causing her to flinch.

After making eye contact with Jayden, Lauren gasped and jumped to hug him, ignoring the pain in her legs.

Jayden sat up, hugging her with one arm. He was still trying to process everything.

Lauren's eager affection was quite new to Jayden. As kids, whenever Jayden visited Lauren after a long time, Jayden would always be the one to hug her.

"Your legs." He noticed her bandages after she suddenly winced from pain. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

Lauren returned to her own bed, slightly struggling to climb back on.

Jayden turned the electrocardiogram off and plucked the wires off of his chest. He decided to leave the monitor on and let it serve as a lamp as they chatted.

Lauren spent the next minutes catching Jayden up to everything that happened, including his coma. She had purposely left out Mike's outburst.

Since Jayden was out the whole time, he never knew that Emily's spirit was taken. And he was shocked by Lauren's risky plan to step into the other world.

He wanted to scold Lauren for putting herself in danger, but Lauren never did things she knew were beyond her limits. Plus, there seemed to be no other option for Emily.

After the two sat in silence for a while, Jayden finally said, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The nighlok are finally resorting to killing us." Lauren replied, the twin telepathy kicking in.

"Yeah." Jayden frowned. "Lately, nighlok haven't been overwhelming with attacks so they can cover more ground when spreading misery. In fact, they haven't harassed people in a long time. Splitface didn't attack anyone. He just waited there for us to arrive."

"But we can't tell the others." Jayden felt guilty about keeping it from his team, and knew there were many risks in not revealing the nighlok's deadly intentions.

If the rangers were unaware of the nighlok's intent, they could end up falling victim to their plans.

But Jayden decided that not telling them was for the greater good. He didn't want to strike fear into his team and have them crumble.

The rangers were strong and could fight together.

"I agree. But they'll find out sooner or later." Lauren warned him. "...The final battle is drawing near."

Jayden snapped his head towards Lauren, not expecting her to make the bold claim so suddenly and confidently.

"Do you really think so?" Jayden was greatly concerned, not frightful. "We've been fighting the nighlok for so long..."

"I know so. It's coming."

~~~

"Mia." Antonio knocked on her door and Mia let him in.

It was the next morning, and had organized her belongings and was straightening up her room. She had even went for a early run, returning by 8 AM.

"Hey, I could use your help. I want to put this dresser against that wall and turn my bed this way." She pointed as she spoke.

Mia decided that she needed change, and maybe the best way to go about it was to throw out old things and switch some things up.

"I wanted to talk to you." Antonio lifted the other side of the dresser and helped Mia put it against the other wall.

"What's up?" Mia sat on her bed, expecting Antonio to take a seat as well. She could tell what the conversation was going to be about.

"I was just thinking, and I didn't want to bring this up earlier since it would confuse you even more." Antonio began, standing in front of her.

"But ever since you came back from the other world. I feel like you've been..." He searched for the right words, wishing he thought of what to say sooner. "Indifferent."

This was true and Mia knew it.

"I was wondering if you still loved me..."

"I don't know." Mia hugged her legs. "You've been really patient with me and you've been doing everything you can to make me feel comfortable."

"Mia, you don't have to worry about hurting me. It's okay." Antonio finally sat next to her.

Mia sighed, "I've thought about it hard, and right now I just can't be in a relationship. I can barely deal with myself right now, there's no way I can keep another person happy. I really want to focus on myself."

Mia avoided telling Antonio that she didn't have feelings for him anymore. She felt too guilty to face him and say so.

"I understand. That's a good thing too." Antonio concealed his emotions. If he appeared too upset, it would make Mia feel sorry.

But Mia could tell he was hiding his sadness for her sake.

"Don't feel guilty. The timing is just off." Antonio smiled softly.

~~~

"What do you mean?" Master Xandred grumbled.

He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but luckily Velos had a lot of patience with him.

"A nighlok per ranger." Velos restated what he had explained earlier. "Lets scout out 6 nighlok and assign them each to end one of the rangers."

"The rangers are powerful whenever they're together. If we have nighlok single them out, they don't stand a chance." Velos continued.

"Then create such a group. I'll trust you with this task." Master Xandred ordered Velos.

"As you wish." Velos smiled. Being favored by Master Xandred was like ruling the other world of nighlok.