Chapter Text
They sat in the yard for a long time.
Emily tried to join them, but Jayden flinched at her voice and tried to get away from her touch, scrabbling weakly against Antonio's hold. Antonio shushed him, waving Emily away, soothing him back to silence.
The others left them alone after that, though they kept watching; Mike sat cross-legged on the bench, close enough to help if necessary, far enough away to keep from spooking Jayden. As the night wore on, Kevin brought out blankets and juice, and Antonio coaxed as much into Jayden as he could before they settled down together. Antonio was just as happy not to go inside. Jayden wasn't in any shape to face Ji or the damage from the fire.
He woke when Jayden moved the next morning. Antonio opened his eyes, careful to stay otherwise still as he surveyed the yard over Jayden's shoulder. Emily was sitting next to them, ostensibly staring at the sky and not paying them any attention.
"Morning, Jayden."
"M– morning," he said shakily.
"You're an idiot, you know."
Jayden flinched, hard enough that Antonio could feel it, but he didn't argue.
"You're not interchangeable, you and Lauren. We wanted you. Not just a Shiba Red."
"It was safer..." Jayden started.
"No it wasn't," Emily said over him. "You were just being stupid, thinking we'd forget you. Thinking we wanted to forget you."
She wrapped her arms around him quickly enough that he couldn't avoid her; that put her arms between them, but Antonio could still feel Jayden tense. He didn't fight back, though, and after a minute he melted into her. Antonio sat up, resting a hand on Jayden's back.
"You're still an idiot," Emily murmured into Jayden's shoulder. Antonio caught her eye, smiling faintly.
Jayden tensed again and Emily turned, watching as Lauren came towards them. She paused well out of their reach, watching hesitantly. "Are..."
Jayden scrambled to his feet, almost tripping over Antonio, but once he was standing he didn't seem to know what to do. "Lauren, I..."
She took the decision out of his hands, stepping forward to hug him. Antonio stood quickly, watching, but while Jayden was tense he wasn't backing away.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured.
"I'm so sorry," Lauren echoed. "I wanted you to stay. Everyone wanted you to stay. You know that, don't you?"
Jayden twisted so he could see Antonio. "I'm starting to get the idea."
"Good." She pulled out of his arms, smacking him; he took it without flinching, though he was frowning. "Don't ever do anything like that again," she warned him; her tone was light, but her eyes were dark and very serious.
Jayden bowed his head. "No ma'am."
She grinned, eyes bright. "All right. Breakfast's ready; are you coming in or are we coming out?"
"You're coming out," Antonio said before Jayden could answer. "It's a beautiful morning," he added to her look.
"How's Ji?" Emily asked.
Jayden paled, turning away; Lauren watched him as she told Emily, "He's doing much better. Sitting up and complaining. He'll be out of bed pretty soon."
Antonio nudged Jayden. "Come on. Let's get set up for breakfast, ok?"
Breakfast was awkward and uncomfortable for everyone. Jayden and Lauren sat on the bench by the front door, talking quietly; Emily went to join them, but Antonio caught her arm. "Don't."
"Shouldn't we sit with him? So he knows we're not angry?"
"They don't want anyone else just now. Besides..." He glanced at the table. "If we go sit there, it'll look like us who've forgiven him against the others, and we don't want anyone thinking like that." Letting her go, he raised his voice to add "Seconds, Mike?"
Jayden waited until everyone had finished eating to stand; Lauren was at his shoulder. "I want to apologise," he started.
Mike carefully put down his plate, pushed to his feet and walked into the House. Jayden watched him go, carefully expressionless.
Emily started to stand and then hesitated, looking at Lauren, who waved her off. She slipped inside after Mike.
Jayden watched until the door closed before turning back to Kevin and Mia. "I know an apology can't make up for..." He gestured helplessly. "Everything... but I would like to try and earn your trust back. Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes?" Kevin repeated.
"Anything."
"For starters, you don't touch a weapon in this house. Not your spin sword, not your practise sword, not your bow, not a kitchen knife. Nothing, Jayden."
"I understand," Jayden agreed quickly.
"Good. That's a start." He picked up his plate, following the others inside.
Jayden turned to Mia, who shook her head. "Sorry, Jayden, I need a little time."
"All right," he agreed quietly, watching her leave. Grimacing, he looked at the others. "That could have gone better."
"Could have gone worse," Antonio said philosophically.
"Could it?"
"Well, no one threw anything at you?"
"Jayden," Lauren said quietly, "you should come talk to Ji."
"Yeah," Jayden said on a sigh. "Yeah. Let's go."
Ji was awake, talking to Kevin. Jayden hesitated in the doorway, but Kevin stepped away, leaning against the wall to watch them.
"Ji," Jayden murmured, taking a step forward. Lauren paced him, watching carefully. Jayden had been holding up so far, but through all the attacks the worst of his rage had been focused on Ji, and she wasn't sure what to expect now.
"Jayden," Ji replied.
"I'm so sorr..."
"It's in the past," Ji said over him, holding out his good hand. Jayden took it, smiling at him. "Let's leave it there. The important thing now is to get back to normal."
Lauren stepped past Jayden, examining Ji's arm. "Back to normal?" she asked neutrally. Jayden was tense beside her.
"Yes. I think it's important to return to the routine we're all familiar with."
Lauren drew the healing symbol; Jayden watched without comment. "The routine we're all familiar with," she murmured.
"Training," Jayden said under his breath. She glanced briefly at him, catching the flare of anger in his eyes. Kevin must have seen it or sensed it as well, judging by the way he pushed off the wall to stand at the head of Ji's bed, but if Ji saw it he gave no sign.
"Jayden can't train right now," Lauren said briskly. "Kevin has made him promise not to touch a weapon. Besides, there's work to do here in the House. Is that better?"
Ji frowned, glancing at his arm. "Better, yes. Jayden..."
"Besides," Lauren said over him. "Master Xandred is sealed away, and his forces went with him. There's nothing to fight. We don't need to train right now. Jayden, come on." She was being rude and she knew it, but she needed to get Jayden out of there.
Jayden followed her gratefully, pausing in the corridor outside. "You all right?" Lauren asked, watching him.
"I'm angry." He held up one hand, watching it shake. "Why am... that was Nighlok anger."
"It was anger. You just weren't suppressing it as a Nighlok, and now that it's out... Breathe," she added sharply.
Jayden dropped his head, drawing in shaky breaths.
"Breathe," she said again, more gently. "We'll deal with this. Just calm, ok?"
"I can't... how can I be angry at Ji, Lauren?"
Lauren glanced around at a sound; Kevin was at the other end of the corridor, watching them. "Can you find Antonio, please?"
"Yeah." He watched for a moment more before turning away.
Antonio took one look at Jayden and hustled him into the kitchen, ignoring his half hearted protests and forcing a cup of juice into his hands. "Drink that and then talk," he ordered, dragging over enough chairs for all of them. Jayden sipped at the juice, obediently silent.
"Right," Antonio said after a minute. "Lauren?"
"Jayden talked to Ji."
"Oh?"
"I'm angry," Jayden murmured. "Why am... I want him to hurt, Antonio."
Antonio bit back his first answer. "You've been angry at him for days."
"Nighlok anger! That's not me!"
"It's just anger. You felt it more as a Nighlok, but it's all just anger, Jayden. Drink up."
"That's what Lauren said," he muttered, taking another sip of juice.
"Lauren's very smart." Antonio sat, watching him. "You're angry because of the way Ji raised you. You know that; part of you does, at least."
"I can't be angry with Ji," Jayden said weakly. "He was following the plan..."
"Letting you occasionally meet new people or do something other than training wasn't going to derail the plan," Antonio pointed out. Catching Lauren's look, he added, "Your mentor was just as bad, so don't start. You two were children, and you were children who'd just been through a war, and Jayden, at least, saw your father fall. Treating you like children instead of weapons would have gone a long way."
"We had duties," Jayden told him. "Destinies. Shiba House must always be ready to fight. We had to learn."
"Destiny," Antonio said thoughtfully. "Jayden, do you think this was my destiny?"
"What?"
"This. Here. Samurai. Is this my destiny? Was I always going to end up here?"
"No," Jayden said warily, clearly not sure where Antonio was going. "You worked hard for this."
"So I changed my destiny?"
Jayden shook his head. "We're needed."
"Yes, you are. Between you two you saved the world; I'm not arguing that."
"I don't know what you're saying," Jayden told him.
Antonio glanced at his glass, standing to retrieve the juice and refill him. "I'm saying that you have a right to be angry with Ji. He never treated you as a child, not from the moment your father fell, and that's not right. You were five years old. The problem we have now is how to deal with that anger."
"I don't want to be angry at him."
"I don't think you have a choice. Anger's not something you turn on and off; you have to learn how to handle it. And you never have because you never accepted that you were angry at him." He glanced briefly over Jayden's shoulder before continuing, "Tell me something, Jayden; after I left, did you ever leave this house?"
"I trained with the monks, sometimes."
"Did you ever meet anyone else?"
"No."
"I know you never met anyone," he added to Lauren. "Everything you ever did was aimed at taking down Xandred. Have either of you thought about what to do now? Jayden, did you ever think about what to do once Lauren came back?"
"I... thought that I could stay and help."
"And after Xandred?" Jayden shook his head helplessly, and Antonio nodded. "You didn't think about after Xandred, because Ji never thought about after Xandred. He only ever thought about the war, he only ever talked about the war. You walked out of here when Lauren arrived, and you had no idea where to go or what to do. And Deker was there. And you were drowning, Jayden. We should have gone with you, or not let you leave..."
"I didn't want you."
"Yeah, well, you're stupid," Antonio said cheerfully, grinning at his look. "You're allowed to be angry, Jayden. It's not a fault or a failing. You just need to be careful what you do with that anger."
Jayden nodded, leaning back to look up at the ceiling. They'd strung plastic sheets under the rafters to protect them, but the damage was still visible. "So I see."
"I need to borrow Lauren for a minute. We'll be right back, ok?"
"Ok."
Antonio ushered Lauren out, smiling as they passed Mia in the doorway, and tugged Lauren out to the living room.
"Jayden?"
Jayden scrambled to his feet, turning. "Mia. I didn't realise you were there, I'm sorry."
"I thought you hadn't." She came in, taking Lauren's abandoned chair. "I'm angry at you."
"I know, and I'm sorr..."
"No," she cut him off. "Not the things you did. Those are bad, but you were a Nighlok; we don't expect mercy or compassion from them. I'm angry at you. You made a choice to Fall, and I didn't understand how you could possibly – after training for so long, how could you do that? It was a betrayal of everything we ever did, Jayden."
"I..."
"I'm not finished," she said gently. Eying him, she added in a different tone, "Relax. I'm not looking for penance. I just need you to listen."
"I'm listening," he agreed, but he didn't relax, still tense against whatever he was expecting from her.
"I think I understand a little better now. Antonio's good at that."
"Anton... you were listening." He shook his head. "Antonio's wrong. I don't resent any of it."
"I know you don't. Or, you tell yourself you don't, and maybe it's true; maybe you really don't see..." She studied him for a moment before smiling. "You made Kevin a promise earlier, Jayden. Promise me something."
"Anything."
"If you start to feel like we don't want you, like you don't have anyone or anywhere – come to one of us. Any of us; it doesn't have to be Antonio, or Lauren, or me. But come to one of us. Promise me."
Jayden swallowed hard. "I promise."
"Even if you don't see the point? Even if you think it's worthless?"
"I'll come."
"Ok." She stood, opening her arms; it took Jayden a minute, but he stepped into the hug and she smiled. "We're good," she told him.
"Yeah?" he murmured, relaxing.
"I'll hold you to that promise. But yes. Or, at least, we're good enough."
"Thank you," he breathed, and she smiled again, letting him go.
"We're good," she told him again, and he nodded. "I have to go, Emily's waiting for me. OK?"
"Yes. Thank you, Mia."
She grinned, heading out of the kitchen, and he sank back into his seat, absently playing with his glass.
Antonio came back a few minutes later, deliberately clattering in to keep from startling him. "Mia gone?"
"Yeah." Jayden carefully put down his glass. "Now what?"
"What do you mean?" Antonio scooped up the glass, dropping it into the sink. "Right. Don't take this the wrong way, Jay, but it's well past time you took a shower."
"Yeah?" Jayden looked down at himself.
"Think you can stand up for that long?"
"I just woke up, Antonio."
Antonio studied him. "Think you can stand up for that long?"
"Yes," Jayden said patiently. "I can stand up for that long."
"Good. Let's go."
"Antonio..."
"Jayden, you don't have..."
"Please."
Antonio sighed, slumping into one of the chairs. "Yes, Jayden?"
"I'm sorry for..." he gestured. "Everything. Everything I said, and everything I did...I'm so sorry, Antonio."
"I know you are. You're forgiven, Jayden."
"The things I said..."
"You were lonely," Antonio said with a shrug.
"Yeah," Jayden agreed, eyes far away.
Antonio jostled him deliberately. "You are forgiven."
"You forgive too easily. You forgive me too easily."
"It's my forgiveness, I can do what I want with it. Now come on. Shower."
Jayden got through the shower, but he was clearly exhausted and Antonio left him to sleep. Lauren was in the living room, studying a scroll, but she looked up when Antonio came in. "How is he?"
"Completely worn out. I've left him to sleep."
"On his own?"
"Jayden doesn't do well with crowding. He needs time alone. What are you looking at?"
"Just looking." She tilted the scroll so he could see it. "There are hundreds of symbols I never learned because they weren't going to be useful to me. I thought I'd at least start looking."
Antonio traced one of the symbols slowly. "Change. And something about colour..."
"It turns green things blue," Lauren supplied.
"I can see why you might have skipped that one."
She smiled, looking back down at the scroll. "Is he all right, Antonio?" she asked quietly.
"No. But he will be," he answered just as softly.
"Are you sure?"
"He will be, or I'll have something to say about it."
"I know I wouldn't want you mad at me," she said solemnly.
Antonio grinned. "What's this symbol?"
They studied the symbols half heartedly for a while before breaking off for dinner. Jayden didn't appear, and when Emily asked Antonio told her he was resting.
Jayden didn't appear all evening. Lauren or Antonio checked on him every so often, and most of the others found excuses to pass by the bedrooms at one point or another. As far as any of them could tell Jayden slept straight through; he never even seemed to move.
Kevin woke early the next morning; still tired, but unwilling to stay in bed, he got up and went for his run. When he came back Lauren was practising in the yard and Jayden was sitting on the bench, watching.
"Morning," Kevin called, pausing on the far side of the mats to watch Lauren. Her speed always surprised him, every time he saw it.
"Morning," Lauren said without stopping. Jayden echoed her, but his eyes were on her rather than on Kevin.
"How're you feeling?" Kevin asked him directly.
"Good. Thank you."
His fingers were twitching; Kevin could see him gripping the edge of the bench to keep them still. Lauren fumbled a move and Jayden shifted as though to join her, but he didn't move.
Kevin turned away and headed inside. Mike was in the hallway, pretending not to watch them through the door. "Morning," Kevin muttered, passing him and heading to the kitchen.
Mike trailed him, leaning against the door. "Good run?"
"It was fine. He isn't doing anything, he's just sitting there."
Mike made an effort to look surprised. "What?"
"Jayden's outside, but he hasn't picked up a weapon and he isn't training; he's just watching Lauren."
"That's not... I wasn't..." Mike scowled, shrugging it off. "How's he seem?"
"Like Jayden. Go talk to him."
"No." Mike shook his head, turning to go back to his room.
Kevin grimaced, watching him go, but he didn't call him back. They couldn't force Mike to face up to this, much as they wanted to.
Lauren and Jayden stayed outside until lunch time. When they came in she came to join Kevin, holding up the Lion Zord; it was shut down, inert in her hand. "Here."
"What's this for?" He took it automatically, studying it with a frown.
"It's a weapon."
Kevin blinked, understanding. "I didn't mean this. Give it back to him."
"Don't give it back to him until you're ready to let him use weapons, Kevin." Kevin stared at her and she nodded. "He'll wait for you. Be sure."
Turning away, she went to check on Ji, already sketching the healing symbol. Between them, she and Emily were keeping him relatively pain free, though he still had only limited use of his arm.
Mia was talking quietly with Ji, who was sitting up; she smiled at Lauren as she came in. "Hey. Have you been training all morning?"
"Yeah." She checked Ji's bandages. "That looks good – I don't really know what else to do, Mia. There's nothing to fight, and that's all I've ever done."
Mia was carefully not catching Ji's eye. "How's Jayden?"
Lauren glanced over her shoulder. "Quiet. How does that feel, Ji? Any pain?"
"Nothing serious."
She smiled, heading back to the living room and sitting beside Jayden. Mia watched them for a minute before turning back to Ji. "Can I get you anything, Mentor?"
"No. Thank you."
She nodded, fiddling with his pillow for a minute. "Maybe you can get up soon."
"Perhaps. Then we can get back to normal."
"There's no normal any more, Mentor. Master Xandred is gone, the Nighlok are gone. Normal needs to change."
"Normal is what it is, Mia."
"Well, ‘normal’ used to be Jayden's father as Red Ranger, right? Things changed because they had to. They have to change again now."
"Mia," Jayden said quietly. She glanced over to see him standing in the corridor; Antonio was hovering at his shoulder, watching carefully. "Leave it. Please."
"Jayden..."
"Please."
"I just think we should get back to normal," Ji said again.
" 'Normal' is Jayden stuck here training twenty hours a day and Lauren sequestered and training twenty two hours a day," Antonio pointed out.
"Obviously some things will change..."
"Everything needs to change."
"Antonio," Jayden protested.
"Shiba House has a duty to be ready whenever the Nighlok reappear," Ji said firmly. "We must honour that duty, or all that we've done means nothing."
"What we've done is locked away Master Xandred! Lauren sealed him and he's never coming back. The ship went down, the Sanzu's drained away. We are safe."
"Antonio," Jayden said again. "Stop. Please."
"Jayden, I can't let him do this. Not again. Not to either of you."
"I don't know what else to do."
Kevin touched Mia's shoulder; Emily was behind him, eyes wide as she took in the scene. "What's going on?" he asked. Mia shrugged helplessly.
Antonio turned on Ji. "Do you see this? They have no idea how to be people."
"Antonio!" Emily caught his arm, dragging him around, away from Ji. "You and Lauren need to take Jayden and go somewhere else."
"Emily..."
"We'll have this discussion," she promised him. "But right now, everyone's tired and on edge. This isn't the time for it."
Antonio glanced at Jayden, grimacing. Jayden was pale, leaning against the wall; Lauren didn't look much better. "Yeah," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face.
"No." Ji struggled to his feet. "No, let's talk about this now. Jayden, do you want to walk away from everything we've worked for?"
"Everything we've worked for is over!" Jayden exploded, shrugging off Lauren's restraining hand. "I was only ever my sister's shadow and it's done, Ji! She doesn't need me now!"
"Jayden," Lauren protested, and he shook his head impatiently.
"Want and need aren't the same thing; I know that. But everything I worked for ended six days ago, and everything you worked for ended five days ago. It's finished. And I don't want to go back to that. I just don't know how to be anything else."
Ji shook his head. "Everything your father planned for..."
"Is over, Ji," Mike said from the doorway. "They won. Let them enjoy it a bit, huh?" Deliberately looking straight at Antonio, he added, "Some people aren't very good at change. Some of us need time to work things out."
"Yeah?"
He glanced at Jayden. "Well, thicker heads. Needs time to get through." Looking back at Ji, he added, "This should really wait a little while, Mentor."
Jayden stepped away from Lauren. "I don't agree with everything Antonio's saying, Mentor. But I do think this isn't the time to discuss this. When you're feeling better."
Ji started to argue, and Lauren said firmly, "Conversation over, for now. Everyone go and relax, all right? No training today, anyway."
"Hey, Jayden." Kevin pitched the Lion Zord back to him, smiling at the sheer relief on Jayden's face. "I'm still watching you. But you can go ahead whenever Lauren says you can."
"Thank you," Jayden murmured, holding the Zord tightly.
"Come on." Lauren nudged him gently, steering him out of the dojo; she glanced at Antonio, but he waved her off and lingered, watching as the others dispersed. Mike was still watching as Antonio turned back to Ji.
"I have always only wanted what was best for Jayden," Ji said quietly.
"I know," Antonio agreed. "He has plenty of good memories, too. The problem is that when what's good for Jayden came up against what's good for the plan, you always chose the plan. It saved the world, but it messed them up, and that's what we need to deal with."
"The routine is what he knows, it would give him time to think..."
"The routine is not what he needs. He loves you. He'll listen to you. Be careful what you say."
He turned away, slipping out past Mike, who followed him. "Antonio."
"Yeah."
Mike considered him for a moment. "You need to be careful, too. You have Jayden and Lauren both listening to you."
"I know," Antonio murmured. "But staying here, training and working for a fight that's over..."
"It's not right," Mike agreed. "But I don't know what is right, and I don't think they know, and they're looking at you. Be careful."
"I will."
Mike talked himself into and out of it half a dozen times before he knocked on Jayden's door.
Jayden didn't look surprised to see him, and Mike wondered vaguely how many of the others had knocked already. The room was empty, and his surprise must have shown, because Jayden said mildly, "They're next door in Lauren's room."
Mike nodded briefly. "Jayden..."
"I'm sorry..."
"Me first." Jayden nodded, backing up to sit on the bed, and Mike concentrated for a moment, trying to get his thoughts lined up. "You're an idiot, Jayden."
"So I keep hearing; sorry."
"It's worse because you're really smart. Antonio was right; less than a day after you Fell we were on the ropes. If you'd really been trying we'd never have been able to stand against you."
"Tactics," Jayden murmured. "It's not hard...Mike?"
"Yeah."
"I was cruelest to you because I knew you'd fight me, and I needed to take you out. That's why – the things I said, they were all designed to hurt you and knock you down because I needed you out of the picture. I can fight off any of the others; but I couldn't plan for you, because I can't predict your ideas. You were dangerous to me."
Mike shrugged it off, but he was smiling. "You're too smart to believe that stuff about us not wanting you. Remember this, in the future."
"I promise," Jayden agreed.
"Good." Mike nodded, turning to leave, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
Lauren waited for Mike to leave before looking in on Jayden; he was tired, but he looked better for making up with his last teammate. Lauren left him there and went to check on Ji.
"Are you in any pain?" she asked, examining his arm. The wound was almost healed, but the nerves needed more time.
"Not much."
She nodded, casting the symbol, and he relaxed slightly.
Lauren dragged over one of the stools, sitting carefully. "Mentor."
"Yes, Lauren."
"I'm going to declare the war over and release the team."
Ji took a couple of breaths before answering. "Do you think that's wise?"
"I think the war is over. They're welcome to stay if they want; this House will always be open to them. But they have lives that they put on hold for this fight, and they deserve to go back to them if they want to."
"That is your choice, as head of house." He studied the ceiling for a moment before looking back at her. "May I make a request?"
"Anything in my power."
"When I'm well enough to travel, I would like permission to return to the Tengen Gate."
"Mentor..." She stood, reaching for his good hand. "We don't want you to leave."
"I know. But I think it's time. I raised Jayden. I cannot see him in pain and not try to help. But it's become very clear that my help is not what he needs."
"He loves you."
"Yes." Ji squeezed her hand lightly. "The Gate is not so far away. We will see each other. And if I am needed, I will be there. But I think he needs me not to be here now. And I have always, always tried to do what is best for him."
Lauren nodded, letting go of his hand to wipe her eyes. "You are released, Mentor Ji, with all of my gratitude, and my word that anything you need will be provided to you. Shiba House cannot repay our debt to you."
"It was my honour, Lauren."
The next morning Ji joined them for breakfast; he was a little shaky, but he stood and moved under his own power and he ate without being prodded.
When everyone was done, Lauren rose to her feet. "I have an official announcement," she told them.
"Uh oh," Mike murmured. Emily elbowed him, smiling, and he grinned at her.
Lauren smiled faintly at them. "As Head of Shiba House, I am officially declaring the war against the Nighlok over. You have served valiantly and well, and I am more grateful than I can say. You are released and may return to your lives."
Mike glanced around; no one seemed quite sure what to say. "Thanks?" he said, deliberately uncertain. Emily smiled automatically and the others relaxed a little.
"You're welcome to stay, if you'd rather," Lauren said, relaxing now that the official part was over. "You are always welcome here. But I know you all walked away from your lives to come here, and if you want to return to them, you have our blessings."
"Jayden?" Emily said quietly.
Jayden looked up from where he'd been staring at the floor. "Go be with Serena," he told her. "We'll be here; Lauren and I are staying here."
"Me too," Antonio agreed quickly.
Mike had been watching Ji, and he frowned at a sudden suspicion. "Ji?"
Ji stirred. "When I can travel, I'll be returning to the Tengen Gate."
"Returning," Emily repeated blankly.
"Ji served at the Gate for years before coming here to tutor us," Jayden supplied absently. "Ji..."
"It's what I want," Ji told him. "You and Lauren are more than capable of maintaining the watch for the Nighlok. And I won't be far, if I'm needed."
"This is still your home."
"I know. And I will always be here if I'm needed. But the Gate will be quiet, and I'm looking forward to it."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Mike agreed, and Ji smiled at him.
"Believe it or not, I will miss you, Mike. I've certainly learned a lot about patience, working with you."
Mike grinned, and pretended hurt, and the others grinned and laughed and started making plans. No one was surprised when Jayden slipped away, nor when Antonio followed him.
Antonio found him sitting on the bench in the garden, staring at the walls. "You're missing the fun," he announced, dropping to sit beside him.
"Am I?"
"Well, you're missing everyone's plans."
"Ah."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not very good at change, Antonio. And this is the biggest change of my life. How do I go from 'Jayden, leader of the Rangers and Lauren's shadow' to 'Jayden'?"
"Why do you keep saying that?"
"Saying what?"
"Lauren's shadow."
Jayden shrugged. "It's what I am. Or was. Her decoy. Everything I ever did was to protect her. I don't know who Jayden is."
"Time to find out, then. One day, one step at a time."
"It might take a while. Did I mention I'm not good at change?"
Antonio shrugged. "I don't have anywhere better to be. Come on."
He stood and Jayden followed. They paused outside the front door; Antonio could hear Mike's voice rising in entirely feigned indignation, and the girls laughing.
"Mia's going to be in town," he said. "She's already promised to come and make sure we're eating right. Mike hasn't made any plans yet, he's probably going to stick around at least for a while. Kevin'll check in, Emily's going to be calling all the time, and Ji's not that far away. We can walk to the Gate any time, it's near enough. Not everything changes. And not all changes are bad."
"No," Jayden agreed quietly. "I mean, yes."
Antonio laughed, thumping him on the shoulder. "Come on. Your future awaits, and it's going to be golden."
Jayden smiled, took a deep breath, and went to join his team.