A/N: Hey guys! I hope you're all having a happy Easter! Now you can all relax after eating your dinner and enjoy this update! Now be aware, I got kind of distracted and out of hand so this story is um.... well over three thousand words. Sorry, but I think it's worth it as this is my glorious return. So please enjoy, and I'll see you next time. Bye guys!
It was one of the clearest days that year. The sky was as blue as ever and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The sun shone brightly overhead and it was considerably warm out, but it was cool enough to wear jeans and a t-shirt. The Rangers were inside the Shiba House dressed in their training clothes. They were just starting breakfast. Each sat with a plate of freshly made pancakes and bacon, and glasses of orange juice. The teens were having a conversation when the doorbell rang. "I got it." Ji said, leaving the room. He came back with a woman following him. She wore a simple blue dress and matching blue earrings. Her straight blonde hair went down to her shoulders and she had on black flats. "Rangers, this is Jane." Ji said. The rangers nodded in hello as they all had mouths full of pancakes. "Jane is in charge of the orphanage downtown." He explained. "As you all know, Easter is tomorrow. Down at the orphanage we never get to celebrate because we don't have the funds." Jane said. The rangers stopped eating and listened. "All the kids ever talk about is you rangers, they think you're amazing. I was wondering if maybe this year, we could make Easter better and have an egg hunt in the park, with a special appearance made by the Samurai Rangers." She looked at the teenagers hopefully. "That sounds amazing!" Emily exclaimed. "Yeah, it'll be cool." Mike said. "So," Jayden started. "How can we help?"
***Samurai***
It took almost four hours to set everything up in the park, but it looked amazing. Plastic eggs filled with candy littered the ground, bushes and trees. The smell of charcoal drifted through the air as the coals started to get hot- Ji thought it would be a good idea to barbeque for the kids for lunch. Some of the picnic benches were pushed together to create an egg decorating station, and there was a large table with a pile of chocolate bunnies on it, a little take home gift. But, the most important thing was the stage. The stage where the kids would see their heroes for the first time in real life. It was covered in streamers and banners and balloons.
Currently, the rangers were backstage with Ji, talking about how the day would go. "Okay. It all starts at 10:30 with the egg decorating. Mike and Kevin, you hand the kids their eggs, they each get a carton of a dozen. Emily and Mia will help them decorate, and Jayden and Antonio will write their names on the cartons and send them over to the egg hunt area where Jane will get them ready. Then we'll have the hunt, you all know what to do then, and after that you'll help out with the barbeque. I'll tell you what to do when that time comes. Then after you get a quick group photo with each kid and hand them a chocolate bunny, we're off." Ji explained. "And then we get Ji's big fancy Easter dinner with the special bunny rolls?" Mike asked hopefully. The other Rangers chuckled at him, but in reality, they were hoping too. Ji smiled and said, "Yes. It'll be a nice reward for all your hard work." The rangers smiled at that. Then they heard the laughter and sounds of children talking. "Alright, let's get started." Ji said, heading off the stage.
The kids looked around in awe as they saw all the decorations the park was covered in. They all stopped when they got to the stage. That was when they came out. Doing about fifty different flips and tricks were the samurai rangers. The children screamed in delight. When the rangers finished their entrance, they stayed transformed, but they took their helmets off. Ji had told the teens that they could because he used a special symbol power to make sure no one saw their actual faces unless he wanted them to. Jayden stepped up to the microphone, after all, he was the leader. "Hey guys! How're you all doing today?" He said. The children all replied with various forms of 'good', 'great', and 'awesome'. "That's awesome!" Jayden said with a smile. "We've got a big day for you guys, are you ready to get started?" The kids yelled out "Yeah!", and so it began.
***Samurai***
Mike and Kevin were handing the kids their cartons of eggs. Then the children sat down at the table where they would start to decorate. Mia and Emily helped the younger kids. "What color do you want this one?" Mia asked a little boy. He was about 2 and a half years old, with curly brown hair. "I want it like a firetruck." The boy said. "I like firetrucks." Mia smiled as she put the egg in the red dye. "I do too. Are you gonna be a firefighter when you grow up?" She asked. The boy gave her a big grin and nodded. Nearby, Emily was helping a little girl with braids pick a design to go on her egg. "Which one do you like?" Emily questioned. "I like all of them." The little girl replied. Emily chuckled. "Well how about you just choose one for now, and you can pick more after we finish this egg?" The girl nodded and pointed to a design. Emily put the strips of paper on the egg so that those spots would stay white. "What color?" She asked the girl. "Blue!" The child replied quickly. Emily laughed and put the egg in the blue dye.
After the kids finished dying all twelve of their eggs, they were sent over to Jayden and Antonio so that they could get their baskets for the egg hunt and their names on their carton of eggs. "What's your name buddy?" Antonio asked a boy who came up to the table. "Nicolàs." The kid replied. He was about 11, with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. Antonio took notice to the accent the boy put on the 'a'. "¿Hablo español amigo?" He asked. The boy nodded. "Sì. Mis padres eran de Columbia." He said. "¡Buen amigo!" Antonio replied. "¡Hasta pronto!" The boy waved goodbye and headed over to Jane. Jayden chuckled at Antonio. He turned back to his line of kids. "What's your name sweetie?" He asked. The girl was about six, with blue eyes and curly blonde hair. "Anna." She said, smiling. "Alright Anna," Jayden said, writing her name on the carton. "Why don't you head over to Jane and get ready for the hunt?" He handed her a basket and she skipped over to the egg hunt area.
Ji walked around handing each of his rangers a couple bottles of water. It was exceptionally hotter than it was the day before, and since they were in their suits, he didn't want them to get overheated or dehydrated. Needless to say, the bottles of water were drained in no time.
There were over sixty kids that had to get their eggs decorated, so the rangers were there for a while. "I'll be right back." Jayden said to Antonio. "Can you handle my line?" Antonio nodded and Jayden walked away.
When Jayden came out of the bathroom, he saw a boy sitting on the bench. He was about fourteen, and he was looking at the ground. Jayden sat next to him. "Hey, why aren't you getting ready for the egg hunt?" He asked. The boy just shrugged and didn't say anything. Jayden noticed he was fiddling with a black ring on his right middle finger. Jayden knew what that meant, he did the same thing with his folding zord when he was missing his dad. "Is that ring special to you?" He asked. The boy stopped playing with the ring. "Did one of your parents give it to you?" Jayden questioned. The boy gave a small nod. "I'm guessing you're pretty new down at the orphanage huh?" Jayden said. The boy didn't reply, but then again, he hadn't said a word the whole time. "I know how you feel." Jayden told him. "My dad died when I was five." The boy looked up at Jayden. The teen could see that his eyes were almost black, but they had a gold glint to them. The boy put his hand on Jayden's. He then turned Jayden's hand so his palm was facing the sky. He traced a shape on it with his finger. With his training of the Japanese lifestyle, Jayden understood the shape. "Dragon." Jayden said aloud. The boy looked hesitant, but then his look changed, like he'd changed his mind about something. "It's what my mom used to call me." He said in a small voice. "How long ago?" Jayden asked. "Two months." The boy replied. "I know what it's like." Jayden told him. "People think that just because we're rangers, bad things can't happen to us. But, we're human, just like everybody else." The boy looked up at him. "My mom used to say that everything happens for a reason." He said. "So then, what's the reason that she died?" A tear slid down his face. Jayden pulled the boy into a hug. He waited for him to calm down, they way Ji did after he first lost his dad and he had nightmares. When the boy pulled back, he didn't say anything. "My name's Jayden." Jayden said. "I'm Andrew." The boy replied. "Do you have a cell phone Andrew?" Jayden asked. The boy nodded. "I'm not supposed to though." He said. "Don't tell Jane." Jayden chuckled. "I won't." He took Andrew's phone and added himself as a contact. "But I want you to text me if you ever need anything. Ever." He said. "Okay." Andrew told him. Then he frowned. "What?" Jayden questioned. "You don't have a contact picture." Andrew said. Then he stood up. "Put your helmet on." He ordered. Jayden did. Andrew snapped a picture of the ranger and smiled. "I still don't want to do the egg hunt though." He told Jayden. "I feel like I'm kinda old for that. Can I just hang with you?" Jayden smiled. "Sure." Together they walked back to the main area of the park.
***Samurai***
When Jayden and Andrew got back, all of the kids were getting ready to start the egg hunt. "Took you a while amigo." Antonio said when he saw Jayden. Jayden shrugged and nodded his head towards Andrew. "Well come on, we're covering the pavilion and picnic area." Antonio said. Jayden walked over to the pavilion area and stood by a pole with Andrew. "So what's it like being a ranger?" Andrew asked. He never really said more than three sentences at a time. "Well you see the guy over there by Jane?" Jayden asked. Andrew craned his neck to get a view of Ji and nodded. "That's our mentor, Ji. He's kind of like a parent." Jayden paused. He wanted to say 'Like Jane is to you.' But he didn't feel like Andrew would agree with that statement very much. "We wake up and have breakfast at 7:30, and then after that we train." Jayden continued. "What do you do to train?" Andrew questioned. The teen shrugged. "We spar with each other, practice symbols, do hits on the dummies, it depends." "Where do you live?" Andrew asked. "It's this giant dojo." Jayden explained. "My dad actually built it with his team..." Jayden trailed off. Andrew looked up at him. He knew that expression. He grabbed Jayden's arm. "His team?" Andrew said. "Your dad was a samurai too?" Jayden's mouth curled up into a smirk. "Yeah, he was a red ranger too. We're born into the samurai life." He said. Andrew slumped down against the pole, and Jayden noticed. "What?" He questioned. "If you have to be born into it then that means I can never be a samurai." Andrew said sadly. "Not true," Jayden replied, sending a glance toward the gold ranger. "Antonio!" He called. "Come here!" The teenager jogged over to his friend. "Rapido amigo," Antonio said. "We're starting soon." Jayden turned to Andrew. "This guy right here is my best friend. He wasn't born into the life." He explained. Andrew smiled.
***Samurai***
"Ready, set, go!" The children all ran off in search of the eggs. The kids five and under went over into the open field where Mia and Emily were, the kids that were six to nine went to the playground where Mike and Kevin were, and kids ten and up came over to the picnic area where Jayden and Antonio were. "We got the easy job." Antonio said. "Since they're older, we don't really have to help them." Andrew smiled but didn't say anything.
Mia and Emily were making their way around the field helping kids get their eggs. While Emily was running over to help a little girl, she tripped over a rock and twisted her ankle. "Emily!" Mia called. "Are you okay?" The pink ranger bent down next to her friend. "I twisted my ankle." She said, her voice laced with pain. Emily was upset that it hurt her this much, but she had always had a low pain tolerance level. The next thing she knew Ji was standing next to her. "Mia, you bring her over to the benches, me and Jane will handle this." He said. Mia nodded and put Emily's arm around her shoulders. With difficulty she helped her up and over to the picnic tables. Mia went over to the cooler with a sandwich bag and filled it with ice, which she then placed on Emily's ankle. "Thanks." Emily said. Soon, the egg hunt was finished and the rangers were coming over to check on their friend. "How you feeling Em?" Mike asked. "I'm okay." She replied. Ji then walked over and gave the rangers their jobs. "Mia and Kevin, you bring the food to the kids after they tell you what they want, Emily and Mike will help me make the plates, and Antonio and Jayden, just make sure everyone is just happy in general." Ji ordered. The rangers nodded and Mike and Kevin followed Ji. Jayden and Antonio walked off and started having a conversation, seeing as they really didn't have to do anything at the moment.
***Samurai***
Lunch went pretty well, there were no problems, but it did make the Rangers hungry. "I can't wait to get home." Mike said. "I'm starving." The other rangers nodded in agreement. They were standing on the stage towards the back while Ji and Jane were on the ground with the kids, explaining what would happen with the photoshoot. All the teens had bottles of water in their hands, just generally relaxing and being themselves. Unfortunately, the rangers were getting tired. After all, they had gotten up at about 5:30 that morning, and it was almost 3:00, and unfortunately when they got tired, they got immature.
Mike looked at Kevin, then at his bottle of water, then back at Kevin. "Mike!" Kevin hissed as he was doused with water. "You're so immature!" He said. "C'mon Kev," Jayden said, putting a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "You know he's just joking around. We're all tired." Jayden suddenly felt a wetness on his face. He turned to see Antonio smiling deviously. "You're gonna get it." Jayden said, putting his helmet on and pulling out his sword. "You're on." The gold ranger replied, also pulling on his helmet. Kevin turned to Mike and pulled his sword out. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get." Mike said, pulling his helmet over his head. Mia sat down with Emily. "This won't end well." Emily shook her head, but chuckled.
Ji was confused as the children gasped, but when he turned and saw what was happening, he shook his head. Jayden dodged a hit from Antonio and swiped at his legs. Antonio jumped back and stabbed at Jayden's arm. Jayden blocked the hit with his sword and stepped forward, sliding his sword down. He then flipped Antonio, knocking his sword out of his hands. Jayden had his sword resting on his shoulder like a baseball bat while standing over Antonio. "I win." He declared.
On the other side of the stage, Mike and Kevin were having a similar fight. Kevin flipped to avoid a swipe from Mike's sword. When he landed, he jabbed at Mike's side, but Mike quickly blocked it with his sword. "When did Mike get so good at fighting?" Kevin thought. He didn't have much time to think though, as Mike swung at his feet. Kevin stumbled back and fell, he was unprepared for the attack. Mike stood over him in victory, then held his hand out. The green ranger helped his friend up, and then turned to see Ji motioning for him and Kevin to go stand with him and Jayden at the back of the stage. "What were you thinking?" Ji asked when Kevin and Mike got over to him. "You know you aren't supposed to fight each other with your swords!" He lectured. "Ji, we were fine." Jayden said. "We weren't actually trying to hurt each other." "Plus," Mike added. "We're trained for that. We know how to fight without getting someone hurt." "But you could've hurt someone." Ji scolded. "Accidents happen." The rangers all became suddenly interested in their feet, they knew they weren't winning this fight. "Sorry Mentor." They said in unison. "Go sit on the edge of the stage." Ji ordered. "Helmets on." They started to walk over, satisfied that they had no punishment when Ji said, "No rolls at dinner tonight." Mike turned around to argue, but Jayden grabbed his arm. "We'll work it out." He whispered. So the boys sat on the edge of the stage. Ji got back on the ground next to Jane. "Sorry about that." He apologized. He then proceeded to explain the photoshoot process.
***Samurai***
"Awesome!" A boy said as Ji handed him a chocolate bunny and his Polaroid picture of him and the Rangers. The next child stepped up and posed with the Samurai. The rangers honestly weren't very happy, they were tired and hungry, but luckily for them, they had their helmets on, so they didn't have to smile.
When Andrew came to get his picture taken, Jayden stopped him as he tried to leave. "Remember what I told you." He said. Andrew smiled and nodded, then joined the rest of the kids. After about 6 more pictures, each kid had a chocolate bunny, a picture with the rangers, and a great day. The teens waved goodbye as Jane took the children back to the orphanage.
***Samurai***
The Samurai team and their mentor sat enjoying their dinner. The ham was great, the mashed potatoes were fluffy, the deviled eggs were amazing and the yams were sweet. Mike stared longingly at the rolls that he wanted but was forbidden to have. Ji had a special way of making the rolls. They were light and buttery and they looked like a recipe off of Pinterest. Ji always had a talent for cooking, unlike a certain pink ranger, and he liked to experiment. When he found Pinterest he got hooked and was always making new things. However, unlike most of the population, he could administer the recipe correctly and get a great dish out of it. In this case, delicious rolls that look like bunnies. "Mike!" Emily called. It snapped the green ranger out of his thoughts. He looked over at Jayden and saw him chewing on a bunny roll. "What?" Mike said in shock. "If you were listening," Ji started. "You would know that I said you could each have some of the rolls." "Sweet!" Mike exclaimed. Grabbing a roll in each hand. The rest of the rangers laughed at their friend. "Happy Easter!" They all said in unison to no one in particular.
***Prologue***
"I got it!" Mia called when she heard the doorbell ring. "Oh, hi Andrew!" The pink ranger said as she opened the door. The fourteen year old gave a small, shy, smile. "Jayden's in his room." Mia said, knowing that's who he wanted to see. Andrew only talked to Jayden. "Hey," Jayden greeted when he opened his door. "Ready to learn more symbols?" Andrew nodded eagerly. "Jayden?" He said, his voice shy. "Yeah?" The ranger questioned. "A family came by the orphanage yesterday, I think they want to adopt me." Andrew said. "Why do you sound so upset?" Jayden asked. "Isn't that a good thing?" Andrew sat down on Jayden's bed. "If I get adopted, then I won't ever be able to come back here will I?" He said sadly. Jayden sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulder. "Listen kid, you can come here whenever you want, and if anyone tries to stand in the way of that, they can have a taste of my Spin-Sword." Jayden told him. Andrew smiled. "Now come on," Jayden said. "It's time for some symbols."