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Visiting hours for the hospital Serena is in are from two to four pm, Saturdays and Sundays. Emily invites them for a Sunday afternoon in May, saying how much Serena wants to meet them because Emily won’t stop talking about their adventures.
Jayden brings candy, Lauren brings a potted flowering plant, and together at noon they board the bus that will take them down to the greater Los Angeles area where Serena’s hospital is located.
Antonio has promised to meet them there, and Mike and Emily will already be with Serena. Between all of them it shouldn’t be too awkward, but still, both Lauren and Jayden sit stiffly next to each other on the bus.
The idea of meeting someone for the first time when they were dying in a hospital weighed heavily on Lauren’s mind. She was terrible with people as it was. What if she messed up? What if, somehow, she hurt Serena? She had never known Serena before her illness, as she suspected many of the other samurai rangers hadn’t, and she wonders if that will color her perception of the girl who should have been the yellow ranger.
Jayden’s hand startles her as he lays it over her own, where she’s been fidgeting with the plant. “You’re going to kill that plant before we get there,” he says, half amused, and Lauren looks down to see that she’s been, unconsciously, ripping off some of the leaves.
“Oh, no,” she says, lifting the plant to inspect the damage.
“It’s not too bad,” Jayden reassures, and then he’s reaching over to take the plant from her. “Here, you hold the candy. Just promise not to eat it,” he teases, swapping their gifts. “Calm down, it’s going to be fine.”
“You don’t think this is strange,” Lauren wonders quietly, “You aren’t nervous?”
“Of course I am,” Jayden says, frowning, “But that won’t help Emily, or Serena. We aren’t doing this for us.”
Lauren nods. “Yeah,” she agrees, sighing a bit and gripping the box of candy, “You’re right, of course you are.”
They were going to see Serena because she wanted to meet them, because despite all her protests before Emily had left to become a ranger about not being seen ill, she had finally realized just how sick she was.
Serena wanted to meet them all, Lauren suspected, because she had realized she didn’t have much time left.
***
“Room 932?” Jayden asks a nurse at the entrance, and she points them towards an elevator. They ride up to the ninth floor, take a couple of turns, and eventually find the room with “Stewart, S” marked on the door.
Underneath the doctors printed paper with her name is a bright rainbow coloring with glitter and ribbon, and it reads “Serena”.
Jayden knocks on the door, hears an enthusiastic “Come in!” and they enter.
The room doesn’t look like most hospital rooms Lauren has ever seen. It’s still mostly white, and there are monitors and cords all over the place, but that walls have been decorated with lots of colorful drawings and posters, and get well cards adorn the window underneath hanging crystals that cast rainbow light across the room. Emily, Mike and Antonio greet them as they enter, and Antonio has his guitar in hand. Lauren glances over all their faces before her eyes settle on the girl that can only be Serena.
She’s lying in a hospital bed, a bright yellow blanket tucked in around her legs. IV’s and monitoring cords come out of both of her hands and her chest, and a tube of oxygen runs under her nose and behind her ears. She has tightly cropped short blond hair, just a shade darker than Emily’s, and it goes every which way without a care. Across her face, neck, and arms are tiny red blotches, some of them covered with band aids, and the space underneath her eyes are dark and hollowed. She looks just a touch too thin, and a yellow sweater is wrapped over her shoulders.
Despite all of this, she has the warmest and most welcoming smile that Lauren has ever seen. She holds out her hand instantly to them. “Lauren and Jayden,” she says happily, “I’d know you anywhere.”
Jayden goes forward and takes her hand, saying something Lauren misses as she studies Serena.
“It’s so good to meet you finally,” she says, letting go of Jayden’s hand and holding her hand out to Lauren. Lauren takes it gently, intends to shake it, but Serena pulls Lauren’s hand closer. Taking it in both her hands, she carefully but quickly lifts Lauren’s hand to her forehead, in the formal ways of the old vassal’s, and says, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to defend you, but I know my sister did well in my place.”
Lauren stutters, not having expected this, but finally manages, “Uh, yes, uh, she did.”
“We brought you some flowers,” Jayden saves her by saying, as Serena let’s go of Lauren’s hand and Lauren flexes her fingers from the sensation, “But I see you have quite a few already.” He gestures to some of the hanging plants around the room and to the large vase in the corner.
“Mike’s doing,” she says, waving it off and gesturing Jayden to put the flowers beside her bed. “When they first got here he covered the entire room in hanging ivy, and the nurses were furious.”
Lauren glances over at Mike, who shrugs nonchalantly. “It made you laugh,” he says, as though that’s reason enough, and it probably had been.
“Come on in,” Emily says, going over and pulling up chairs on the other side of Serena’s bed for them, “Sit down. Antonio was just playing for us.”
Antonio resumes with a couple of silly chords before picking up where Lauren assumes he left off before they had come in. It’s a soft song, with silly lyrics that Lauren thinks must be some sort of children’s rhyme, but Antonio plays it well.
When he finishes they all clap, and he takes a little bow. “What would you like to hear next?” Antonio wonders, asking Serena. “Perhaps something more upbeat? A little Latin dance mix, eh?”
Serena giggles. “The nurses would have your head.”
“I can take ‘em,” Antonio jokes, strumming happily on his guitar.
“If you’re up for it, we could get your wheelchair and go for a walk out to the atrium,” Emily says to Serena, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Mom and dad were going to come by for dinner later, and we could meet them there after-”
“You know what I would love?” Serena interrupts, reaching up to take Emily’s hand. Despite her fragile appearance, her voice is still commanding and strong. “If Antonio is okay with it, you all could go over to the burn unit and play some music for the kids there? They absolutely love live music, and when I still could I used to go over and play the flute for them. I know they’d adore you, Antonio, they’re great kids.”
Antonio agrees with a nod, brandishing his guitar.
“Okay,” Emily says, nodding, “I’ll have the nurse get your chair.”
“No, that’s okay,” Serena says, shaking her head, “I’ll stay here, its fine, you can tell me about it later.”
Emily hesitates, as though she doesn’t want to leave Serena alone.
“Lauren can stay with me,” Serena assures, patting Emily’s hand, “Go have fun for a few minutes, I’m fine.”
Emily opens her mouth and then closes it again, and her eyes glance briefly over to Lauren, as if asking if she’s alright with this. She isn’t, not entirely, but she still knows how to be a leader when she needs to be, and so she smiles reassuringly at Emily and nods her head the tiniest bit.
Emily nods back. “Okay,” she says, and she leans over to kiss Serena gently on the temple, “We’ll be back soon.”
Jayden stands up beside her, and Lauren catches his eye for a brief moment. He gives her a small tight smile. They leave the room, and Lauren and Serena are left to themselves in the quiet.
Serena gazes after them with sad eyes. “Thank you,” she says gently, not looking at Lauren, “This is hard for her, and she’s being so brave. She needs time to herself, you know?”
Serena glances back over at Lauren, and Lauren nods, even though she doesn’t really know.
Serena grins. “You’re brave too,” she says, and she winks playfully, “But in different ways.”
“I’m not brave,” Lauren says, shaking her head, feeling honest. “I’m terrified of everything, all the time. I was scared to come meet you.”
“But you did,” Serena says, still smiling, “And there’s bravery in that. I’m glad you did,” she adds in a comforting way, and then she reaches over to the table where Lauren had set the candy and plant earlier. “Here,” Serena says, grabbing the box of candy and pulling it into her lap. She pulls it open as she says, “I can’t have things that will irritate the linings of my stomach because of my medications. So,” she pulls a chocolate colored candy out of the box, reaches over with her free hand to take Lauren’s and then gently places the chocolate in her palm, “I want you to eat it, and describe it to me.”
Lauren hesitates. She stares down at the little round blob of candy in her hand, glances up at Serena looking at her imploringly, and she opens her mouth hesitantly. “I’m not going to be very good at this,” she warns, but Serena lifts an IV filled arm to wave her off, and nudges her onward with a lift of her chin.
Lauren brings the chocolate up to her lips and takes a bite of it, breaking it in half in her hand, the chocolate covering crumbling. It’s filled with caramel and chocolate mousse that melts in her mouth, and she chews it thoughtfully, thinking how to describe it.
“It’s soft,” she starts, after she swallows it, “And very sweet. Milk chocolate, caramel, and fluffy chocolate mousse that melts in your mouth. The caramel gets stuck in your teeth, so it’s the last thing you taste.”
Serena closes her eyes as she listens to Lauren describe it, smiling. “Finish it off,” she prods, and Lauren plops the rest of the candy in her mouth.
The sensation it leaves in her mouth is sticky and bittersweet, which she relays to Serena.
“Good candy,” Serena comments, opening her eyes as she leans her head back against her pillow tiredly. “First thing I want,” she says sleepily, “When I’m better. Candy. Lots and lots of candy.”
Serena gives her another warm smile before closing her eyes. Her breathing evens out, and she falls asleep with the afternoon sun on her face, Lauren sitting beside her in awe.
***
Lauren stays with Serena for a long time as she sleeps, wondering if she’ll wake back up, but finally she gently takes the box of candy off of Serena’s lap and sets it aside, stands and leaves the room. She lets a nurse know Serena is sleeping, and then she asks where the burn unit is.
She trails down the mostly empty halls following signs until she gets to a pair of double doors that are marked above as “Burn Ward”. She’s about to push the door open when she hears from around a corner the gentle crying of a familiar voice.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Emily’s voice carries, and Lauren freezes, listening from where she is. “I don’t want to believe but… it’s like she’s just holding on for me and I-” whatever else Emily might have said is cut off with a choked sob, and Lauren feels her feet move to take her around the corner.
Emily is being sandwiched by Jayden and Antonio as Mike watches from the corner, his arms cross heavily over his chest. Antonio is cooing something at Emily too quietly to hear, and Jayden looks like he’s trying to hold back tears himself as he holds onto her shoulders and lays his head against her hair. His eyes flicker up and catch her own, and Lauren feels her legs wobble.
“I don’t want her to die,” Emily says into Antonio’s shoulder, still not realizing Lauren has interrupted them, “It isn’t fair. We saved the world! It’s supposed to be better now and-” another sob.
Lauren feels like she should back away, feels her own emotions going haywire at this show of complete despair, but she can’t. Emily’s eyes open and catch sight of her, and then she’s quickly wiping at her eyes and Antonio offers her a sleeve for her running nose, which makes even her tear stained face smile.
“Is Serena okay?” Emily asks her, and Lauren finds herself nodding hastily.
“She’s sleeping,” Lauren says, and almost adds ‘She’s fine’, but Lauren knows, of course, that she isn’t.
***
Emily’s words echo in Lauren’s mind the whole bus ride home.
We saved the world, she had said, It’s supposed to be better now.
“Have they tried going through the clan connections?” Lauren asks Jayden as they arrive home.
Jayden gives her a look like he wants to say ‘Of course they have’, but he says, “Emily’s father has been doing everything he can for Serena. She’s had the best treatment possible.”
“But it’s not,” Lauren hesitates, “What she has, it isn’t incurable?”
Jayden walks into the kitchen ahead of her, pulls them both sodas out of the fridge before leaning against the counter and answering. “It’s genetic,” Jayden says bitterly, “But I don’t know much more than that. I guess there was an option, a few months after Emily was activated, for some kind of transplant. But she was here and the timeframe passed.”
Lauren knows, of course, why Emily couldn’t have gone home to help her sister, but something inside her boils up, and the words still find their way out of her mouth. “They could have done it,” she says, “I know they weren’t supposed to have any contact but for that, for saving her life…”
“Emily would have been out of commission for weeks,” Jayden says, his own brow furrowed, “Serena decided not to risk the fate of the world. It was her decision.”
“It was the wrong one,” Lauren says before she can stop herself, and then she bites down on her lip, because Jayden looks shocked.
“Lauren,” he starts, but she shakes her head.
“I’m sorry, I’m just,” Lauren tries, and pauses with a sigh. “We grew up prepared for death but…”
“Not like this,” Jayden finishes for her.
“Not like this,” Lauren echoes him, finally sitting down at the kitchen table and taking a drink of her own soda.
They sit in silence for a few moments, Jayden against the counter lost in his own thoughts, and Lauren working through the day’s events all over again. Something occurs to Lauren.
“Have you asked the clans on their behalf?” Lauren wonders, glancing up.
Jayden looks at her for a moment. “They haven’t asked me to,” he says slowly, and Lauren frowns.
“But our requests have so much more weight,” she says, “The last of the Shiba clan, the ones who saved the world. Maybe they tried for the Stewarts of the yellow clan but for us they’d have to try again-”
“Lauren,” Jayden says warningly, but she continues on.
“I refuse to believe that with all the connections we have, with all the history and the money and the organizations in place that they couldn’t do something!” Lauren says, and Jayden is shaking his head.
“It’s not our place,” Jayden stops her as he pushes off from the counter, “And even if there was something that could have been done… Emily says it’s too late for that.”
Lauren’s face falls. “How much time do they say she has?”
Jayden’s lips harden into a narrow line. “A month,” he says, “Maybe two.”
Lauren blinks back the tears that suddenly rise to her eyes, and then has to squeeze them shut. She stands from the table and leaves the kitchen before any tears can fall, heading to her room and closing the door.
She sits at her desk with tears on her cheeks for a long, long time.
***
I need to talk to you, she texts Kevin around 9:00, When you have time.
Her computer chimes in seconds. With a fond grin she clicks on the chat icon, and Kevin’s face appears before her.
“What’s up?” He says immediately. He’s in casual clothes, so he hadn’t been sleeping. In fact, he has a stress ball in one hand, and he squeezes it every couple of seconds.
“I didn’t mean like, right this second,” Lauren admonishes, and Kevin grins.
“I have time,” he shrugs, and then he asks again, “You okay?”
Lauren sighs. “We went to see Serena today.”
As though this is all she needs to say, Kevin’s face falls. “That’s rough,” he agrees.
“I have some questions,” Lauren adds, “And I thought that, if anyone would have done the kind of research I need already, it would have been you.”
Kevin nods a few times. “I looked into it pretty heavily,” he says, and then he’s clicking through something on his computer, “I’ll email you everything I found.”
“Thank you,” Lauren says, and she opens her email. “Jayden didn’t know very much and I couldn’t ask Emily.”
“It’s actually kind of ironic,” Kevin says sadly, “Or at least, it would be if it wasn’t so messed up. It’s a genetic disease. They don’t know how it transmits or what the actual cause is, but Serena got it, and Emily didn’t. All their lives, they both thought it was Serena who’d won the genetic lottery, getting to be the Yellow Samurai. And then…”
“Yeah,” Lauren agrees. Her email chimes, and Kevin’s files appear on her computer.
“Lauren?” Kevin says, and his tone makes her look back at him instead of clicking the file open. “Do me a favor?”
Lauren nods.
“Try not to dwell on this,” Kevin says slowly, and then huffs, “I mean, I know you will, because why else would you ask for it, but. I just mean… Sometimes you can’t save everyone.”
Lauren doesn’t nod. She doesn’t agree, either. She thanks him, and they sign off, and she stares at the title of the illness Serena has.
Somewhere inside her, despite what everyone says and what she knows to be true, Lauren feels a rebellion building. It should be better, she thinks. It should be possible. And was she not the Shiba Lord? Surely, if she had not yet tried, then no one had. She had been brought up to do the impossible, and maybe she had failed at that once, but she couldn’t believe that all her years of training had been for nothing. She couldn’t.
In that moment, Lauren decides to save Serena. No matter what it costs.
***
It takes her a day of reading through everything Kevin has compiled before she actually understands what Serena has been through. Countless surgeries to remove corrupted tissue, blisters and bruises appearing on her skin for no reason, experimental radiation therapy, drugs walked through testing especially for her with side effects like potential blindness and spine deterioration, and still the disease had persisted.
The transplant Kevin had mentioned would have required large amounts of Emily’s bone marrow, stem cell tissue, and pieces of some of her organs, and the success rate only seemed to be around thirty percent. It looked as though Serena had made the right call on that, after all.
She printed out the files, has them spread around her on her bedroom floor as she studies them and circles important things in red pen, still wearing the same clothes from the day before when Ji peaks his head in to ask if she wants lunch.
“No, thank you,” Lauren says, a pen in her hand, one behind her ear, and another sticking out of her mouth.
“What is all this?” Ji wonders, though he doesn’t pry or try to look over any of it.
“Research,” Lauren supplies casually. “Ji, there is something you could do for me.”
“Of course,” Ji says quickly, and it makes Lauren sigh with gratitude that at least he won’t ask her any questions.
“Pack me a bag with some of my formal clothing,” she asks, looking up at him, “I’m going to be taking a trip.”
***
Before she goes anywhere, she goes back to Serena.
It’s a Tuesday, and there are no visiting hours, so she has to make excuses to the nurse. Not a personal visit, she says, legal work, and she has a file folder with her. The nurse seems not to believe her, but maybe because of how sick Serena is or how desperate Lauren looks she lets her go up anyway.
Serena is alone in her room, the television on in the background, when Lauren gently knocks on her door. Serena holds out her arm expectantly without looking away from her movie, like she thinks Lauren is a nurse, and she probably does.
Lauren takes another step forward and clears her throat.
Serena looks over at her, and her eyes widen. “Lauren?” She asks, dropping her arm, “What are you doing here?”
“Hi,” Lauren says, coming into the room, “I need to ask you something.”
“Sure,” Serena says, and she gestures Lauren forwards, “Anything.”
Lauren comes over to Serena’s bed and sits down in the chair Emily had occupied yesterday. She fidgets with the file folder in her hands.
“What’s wrong?” Serena wonders when Lauren doesn’t speak, and Lauren tries for a smile that quickly falls.
“I need to ask your permission,” she starts, “To access your medical files.”
Serena stares at her blankly for a moment before tilting her head. “My medical files?”
“And also to tell certain people how sick you are,” Lauren adds quickly, “In order to find some way to treat you.”
Serena’s face softens, and she closes her eyes like she was hoping this wasn’t a conversation she was going to have to have again. “Oh, Lauren,” she says, her eyes still closed, “I was right about your bravery.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Lauren adds, and she looks away, “That I’m being foolish or naïve, that your father has already tried everything I’m about to try. Maybe he has, I don’t know. I do know that I have to try.”
Serena opens her eyes, and before Lauren can react Serena has taken one of her hands in hers. “Actually, I was wondering what I did to deserve such loyalty from a Shiba Lord I didn’t even have the chance to serve.”
Somehow, this startles Lauren, and she looks back at Serena’s smiling face. “What?”
“I would have,” Serena tells her honestly, “I’m sure you know that. I would have happily died in battle defending you. But it just turned out that wasn’t the way I was supposed to die.”
“You’re not supposed to die at all,” Lauren argues, and even she knows how childish that sounds.
“Everyone dies,” Serena says gently, squeezing Lauren’s hand, “Every death is unfair. Every death is painful. My death won’t serve any greater purpose or save the world, or even save anyone else. But I am dying Lauren.”
Lauren shakes her head, but she doesn’t answer.
“Yes I am,” Serena says sternly, “And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve accepted it.”
“I haven’t,” Lauren bites out as her eyes burn, and she doesn’t understand it, doesn’t know why a girl she’d never known about before Sunday can have such an emotional effect on her when she’s had years of training her emotions never to get out of her control. “And you have to let me try to save you.”
Serena smiles at her. She reaches up to gently touch Lauren’s face, and the cords attached to her arm rattle against the bed frame. “Is that an order?”
“Yes,” Lauren says seriously, and she grabs Serena’s hand in both of her own and raises it to her forehead, mimicking the way Serena had blessed her on Sunday. It’s not appropriate, for someone higher ranked to do this to their vassal, unless it was for a proposal or a life debt, and she can tell it catches Serena off guard. “It is absolutely an order.”
“I can refuse,” Serena says with a laugh, like all of this is somehow absurdly silly and not life-or-death serious, “What could you do to me?”
“I’ll think of something,” Lauren says, not dropping Serena’s hand, but holding it tighter, “I’m very creative.”
Serena pulls Lauren’s hands away from her face and stares at her for a long moment. “No matter what I say, you’re going to go and waste your time and your money anyway, aren’t you?”
Lauren’s lip quirks. “So you’d better just sign the form,” she says, letting go of Serena’s hand to hand her the open folder with the medical release in it, “Don’t you think?”
Serena takes the folder but continues staring at Lauren, like she’s trying to figure something out about her. Lauren stares back. After a long moment, she finally takes the pen and signs her name, releasing all of her medical records to Lauren.
“Thank you,” Lauren says, somewhat relieved.
“Don’t,” Serena warns, the humor gone out of her voice, “Don’t thank me. I feel bad enough for the burden my death is putting on my family and all of our friends and our clan, and the weight I’m leaving for Emily. And when you don’t find anything, you’re going to feel like you’ve failed me, and there’s nothing I can do about that, either. Don’t thank me, Lauren.”
Lauren takes the folder and the pen from her, and she stands and gives a short bow before heading for the door. She turns back before she leaves though, doesn’t want to leave things between them like this, and says, “I don’t think you’re a burden.”
Serena looks at her and lets out a small puff of amusement, and Lauren leaves her.
***
Her first stop is the closest one, both in location and in relation. Blue Bay Harbor and the Wind Ninja Academy have always been allies and good friends of the Samurai warrior clans, even housing some descended Samurai’s themselves.
She wears her bright red and golden robes, the ones reserved for formal occasions, so that there will be no mistaking who she is. If Lauren’s name was still good for anything in the world of ancient Japanese tradition, looking the part always helped.
“My Lady Shiba,” Sensei Watanabe bows to her as she receives her into his office, “It is an honor.”
She bows in return. “The honor is mine, Sensei Watanabe. Thank you for taking the time to see me.”
“How may I be of service to you?” Sensei wonders, sitting down behind his desk, and Lauren takes the seat across from him.
“I’m think I’m actually looking for your son,” Lauren says, and she reaches into her white canvas shoulder bag and pulls out Serena’s file, “To see if he can help me with this.”
She passes the file over to him, and he stares at it for a moment before nodding. His fingers ghost over Serena’s name. “The young Miss Stewart,” he says sadly, “We have met. She came here last spring, to test the strength of the ancient healing waters that flow through our sanctuary.”
Lauren tries not to let her disappointment show. “Of course,” she says, nodding, “I’m sure they did all they could for her.”
“Still,” Sensei says, handing her back the file, “I think it would be wise for you to speak to Cameron.”
He stands, and in silence Lauren follows him out of the office and across the grounds. They go down a set of stairs near the entryway of the main building, and a large set of metal doors open into a small room.
“Cameron,” Sensei calls, “We have a visitor.”
“And you brought them down to Ninja Ops,” Cameron replies from where he sits in front of a very large screen and holographic keyboard, “They must be important.”
“She is,” Sensei agrees, and he offers Lauren a wink.
“What does she want?” Cameron wants to know, and Lauren smirks. She likes him already. In fact, his attitude reminds her a bit of Mike, but somewhat less enthusiastic.
“She,” Lauren says, stepping forward, “Would like your help to save a dear friend.”
Cameron turns, sizes up her robes in one glance, and then holds his hand out for the file like he knows he can’t get out of it.
Sensei makes her tea while Cameron looks over the medical records she’s brought, and then he excuses himself as Lauren waits.
“She was here already, you know,” Cameron says, glancing up at Lauren over his glasses, “For the healing water.”
“I know,” Lauren agrees.
“It didn’t work, of course,” Cameron adds, flipping a page, “It can’t, not like that. Dunk your head in a mystic pool, maybe it’ll cure fatal illness. Superstition, really.”
Lauren nods. “I’m sure her family thought the idea had merit.”
“I’m not saying the ancient sanctuary water is useless,” Cameron says, and then he stands, and beckons her to follow him. “Superstition sometimes has its basis in science.”
He leads her down a hall to a small medical room, and then he pulls out a series of tubes from a refrigerator. “What’s this?”
“Concentrated spirit water,” Cameron says, and he holds it out to her, “I’ve been experimenting with it, trying to modify it to work the way medication does. What I just handed you is my latest attempt. Right now, it doesn’t work on people who aren’t active rangers,” he adds, as an afterthought, “But something tells me that shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
Lauren’s heart skips a beat. “You think this could cure her? If she were in possession of a morpher?”
Cameron shakes his head. “No, it can’t do that. It can stimulate the healing effects the morpher provides, but if just having a morpher was all it took to cure your friend, she’d have been better a long time ago. The Power works to keep its keepers healthy, and this amplifies that effect. But it takes time. Three doses a week for a few months to see any noticeable improvement, in theory.”
Lauren bites her lip, and hands the vile back to Cameron. “I see. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have that much time.”
“I know,” Cameron says, and he puts the vile back into the refrigerator. “But if I’m discovering this technology here, on earth, there are probably hundreds of planets who already have better medications than this. Have you tried going off world for your answers?”
“…Off world?” Lauren asks, because, no, the thought hadn’t even occurred to her.
“It’s a big galaxy,” Cameron says, smirking, “We aren’t the only ones in it with shit for luck.”
***
Off world. Lauren can hardly believe the idea.
She’d known, of course, about alien cultures, and the existence of interstellar travel. It just wasn’t something she’d ever expected to have an experience with.
Cameron puts her in touch with a woman named Hayley, and they talk for a long time over the phone as Lauren makes her way to Reef Side.
By the time she gets to Hayley’s coffee shop, she feels like an old friend.
Hayley closes down the store, pulls down shades and closes the gate before it’s time. “Come on,” she says, “The interstellar comm link is in the basement.”
What was it with former rangers and basements, Lauren wondered?
“The first place we’re going to try is called Aquitar,” Hayley says, sitting down in a big chair and bringing up the screen, “There’s was some trouble with Aquitians in Angel Grove in the 90’s, but you’re probably too young to remember that.”
Lauren tries not to think about where she was when the trouble Hayley mentioned was happening, but all the same her mind flashes to her isolated temple in the Nepalese mountains, and she quickly shakes her head to rid herself of the memory.
“So,” Hayley says, as something loads on the large screen, “How’s your friend?”
Lauren looks over at her. “She thinks she’s dying,” she says honestly.
Hayley’s face is sympathetic even as she says, “Well, isn’t she?”
“I hope not,” Lauren replies quietly, and then the screen opens up and someone is sitting in front of them.
“Billy!” Hayley says happily, “I want to introduce you to Lauren, and call in the favor you owe me for the Great Space Squid Incident of 2012.”
The man named Billy sighs at her over the view screen. “How many times do we have to argue about whose fault that was?”
“Never again, if you help me,” Hayley says sweetly, and Billy rolls his eyes before looking over the Lauren.
“At your service,” he says, bowing his head.
***
Intergalactic diplomacy was a skill she was going to have to add to her resume.
It takes Lauren 3 weeks to track down a serum meant to repair genetic tissue death from a planet called Renate-7, using Hayley’s hospitality and Billy’s connections.
Of course, the serum isn’t designed for humans, so Lauren puts Billy in touch with Cameron, and the two of them agree to try to convert the science to work on human genetic tissues, but this is only after Lauren gets the government of Renate-7 to recognize her standing as an active ranger and send her a sample.
“Have you talked to her?” Hayley asks, handing Lauren one of her delicious coffee drinks while they review files together. “How’s she holding up?”
Lauren hasn’t talked to Serena, not directly, but to Emily and Jayden. Emily’s report is as kind as it can be; ‘Oh, they changed her medications recently’ and ‘They suggested she go home for a while to rest’. Jayden’s report is grimmer, and far more realistic.
“She’s not doing well,” Lauren supplies, “But we’re so close.”
“Have you considered,” Hayley says gently, “That by the time you have the answer to this, she may not be strong enough to recover, even with the medication?”
Lauren takes a deep breath. “Of course I have,” she says, “But all I can do is work as fast as I can.”
Hayley purses her lips. “Maybe there’s a way to give us more time.”
***
Cryogenic freezing seemed like science fiction to Lauren, but here she was, working with aliens and ninja’s to synthesize a serum to cure an incurable disease, so a medically induced coma by freezing shouldn’t be that much farther down the rabbit hole.
If only the Kerovian government saw it that way.
KO-35 was on the far outskirts of the galaxy, closer than Mirinoi but about 8 times as far as Aquitar, and reaching it would require a ship capable of high speed interstellar travel, and it went without saying they didn’t have anything like that on earth. Even if she could requisition a ship, the journey would take about a week, and once there, Serena would have to stay on KO-35 in stasis until her treatment was finished.
There were many risks, not the least of which that KO-35 was currently defending itself against attacks from, what appeared to be, an armada of evil alien pirates. At least, that was how the situation was described to her by Billy, who had warned her about trying to appeal to the sympathy of the colonies leader.
“They respect rangers,” Billy had told her, “But they’re a hard people in a hard place, and sharing technology they need is charity they might not be able to afford.”
And yet, KO-35 was their best chance for the cryogenic technology they needed, so it was to the Kerovian government she went.
The leader of the KO-35 colony was an old man named Kinwon, and he looked, if Lauren was honest, far too old to be in charge of a government, but if everything Lauren had heard was true, she could see why no one else would want the job.
“I hear, young lady, that you are a Power Ranger of Earth, and that you have some request to make of me,” he says, as soon as he sits down in front of the view screen. “I do not know your name or your face, but I owe a great deal to the Rangers of Earth, so I will hear you out.”
Lauren bows to him. “I thank you for that. My name is Lauren Shiba of the Shiba clan, and I am taking your valuable time to ask for your help. A dear friend of mine, a descendant of a long line of Power Rangers, is gravely ill. I-”
“You want to know if we’ll use precious resources to save the life of someone who isn’t a Kerovian and cares not for our fight,” Kinwon interrupts, fixing her with a hard look, “So just what is it you need from us, out here on the outskirts of civilization?”
Lauren raises her chin slightly. “A cryogenic stasis pod, a ship capable of taking us to KO-35, and time. I need time to administer medication I already have while my friend is in stasis.”
“A ship, I cannot provide,” he tells her coldly, “And as for the cryogenic pod, what if one of my people should need it? We are under attack, Ms. Shiba, in case you have not heard. KO-35 is and always has been the first target for any attack on our galaxy, and yet you don’t see any planets rushing to our aid, do you? The sacrifice of Zordon wiped out the evil in our galaxy all those years ago, only to let new evil fill its place. I brought my people home thinking they would be safe, that I could live out my years in peace and quiet, and look at me now.”
“I assure you, I am sympathetic to your world’s problems,” Laurens says, trying to keep her temper in check, “My world has just survived an invasion of its own, an invasion which I spent my whole life prepared to defend it from. I know the cost of such work, and I know what I ask seems fickle to you from so far away. I am not asking you to compromise the safety of your world, or even for you to grant me special favors. I will pay in whatever way I can for the use of your technology, if I can have even a chance of saving this girls life.”
Kinwon rubs at his eyes. “She means a great deal to you?” He asks, as though it’s important.
“She does,” Lauren confirms, feeling a pit in her stomach twist.
Kinwon drops his hand and sighs at Lauren over the view screen, his eyes old, tired, and sad. “My Lady Shiba,” he says, his voice gentler than before, as though she reminds him of someone, “Do you know what will happen to our universe if our defense here fails? The same thing that happened last time. Evil will spread throughout the galaxy like a virus, wiping out millions of people. We are the first defense. Even if you secured a ship, I am not sure that I could lower our shields to let you in. In the scope of our universe, in the face of intergalactic safety for all of us, what is the life of one girl to that?”
Lauren feels her eyes go wet, and she lifts her head a bit to keep the liquid in them. “It’s something,” she says defiantly, her voice quivering beyond her control, “It’s something to me. If we can’t even save the life of one girl, of a girl who would have died a hundred times over defending our universe and our world from evil if she’d been given the chance, if we have the ability to help her and we don’t because it’s a little inconvenient for us, then what is the universe your fighting for worth, anyway? What are we saving if we can’t save her?”
Kinwon’s eyes go wide at her outburst, and Lauren reaches up to wipe quickly at a tear that falls without looking away from him. “You are very passionate,” Kinwon tells her, “You’d make a good politician. You should think about the intergalactic senate, if you’re looking for career paths.” Someone comes into the screen and whispers something in Kinwon’s ear. “I cannot offer you a pod without something in return, I’m sorry.”
He looks like he’s getting ready to terminate the session, and something kicks Lauren hard in the gut as she bursts out, “I can offer you me.”
Kinwon pauses, glancing back at her. “I’m sorry?”
“My service,” Lauren says, a light bulb going on in her mind. “I’m a decorated Ranger, trained by the best Samurai on my world. If you will consent to allowing me to treat my friend with your technology, I can offer you my service in helping with the defense of your world.”
Kinwon sits back in his seat and stares at her. “You would risk your life for a simple cryogenic pod?”
Lauren nods. “It may seem simple to you, but it is the difference between life and death for me.”
Kinwon sighs again, before he nods as well. “Then you shall have it. I still cannot provide you with a ship, but upon your arrival, we will do what we can to help you treat your friend, in exchange for your service.” Kinwon terminates the comm link, and Lauren stands there, in awe at herself and her actions.
Hayley, who has been watching the exchange from the side of the room, looks at her and asks, “Are you allowed to do that?”
Lauren shakes her head, but she feels a smile coming on. “I have no idea.”
They burst into giddy giggles before Lauren collapses into a chair, exhausted.
***
The ship is somewhat easier to come by. Billy offers to take them, bringing his own personal ship to Earth so he can have a visit for a while before they leave. Lauren now owes him a great deal more than Hayley’s favor could possibly have covered, but he waves her off, says “Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger”, and tells her to call him when they’re ready to leave.
The last step of her journey of diplomacy is before her, as she tries to convince Serena and her family to trust her.
“Avoid words like experimental,” Hayley tells her as she leaves, “Act confident, but not too confident. And for pity’s sake, tell this girl how you feel about her.”
Lauren frowns at her, starting to shake her head, and Hayley rolls her eyes.
“Oh, save me from emotionally repressed Red Rangers,” she says, and she gives Lauren a warm hug before sending her off.
Serena had been moved home, Jayden tells her, to die. She hadn’t wanted to stay in the hospital, had wanted to go home to the farm where she’d grown up, and Lauren can’t blame her. It’s a beautiful farm.
She walks down the dirt road where the bus drops her off, carrying her small bag. It somehow smells cleaner out here, on the 300 acres of land Emily and Serena’s family owned and worked, and Lauren can see the house where they’d grown up after a few minutes. It was rural, not remote, but Billy’s ship would have no trouble landing in one of their fields.
The door to the large house is open, and Lauren knocks on the screen and waits.
Emily comes walking down the stairs a few moments later, and as she opens the door she throws her arms around Lauren’s shoulders.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Emily tells her, and Lauren hugs her back.
Serena is in the master bedroom, machines and IV’s hung up around her. Emily lets her in and stands in the doorway, and Lauren goes forward and sits down on the bed next to the sleeping Serena. She takes her hand, places it between both of her own, and whispers, “Serena.”
Serena’s eyes flutter open. She seems, for a moment, not to recognize Lauren, but then her mouth breaks into a smile. “Hey, brave girl,” Serena says, giving Lauren’s hand a gentle squeeze, “Glad you came to say goodbye.”
Lauren shakes her head resolutely. “I didn’t come to say goodbye,” she tells Serena sternly, “I came to save you.”
Serena huffs through her smile. “You still on about that?”
“Oh, yes,” Lauren says, smiling back, “And I’ve gone to an awful lot of work for it, so you had better not get any ideas about leaving just yet. It’d be very rude.”
This makes Serena laugh, though it’s quiet and weak. Behind Lauren, Emily has come up, and places a hand on her shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“Promise not to think I’m crazy,” Lauren warns, and then Emily runs to get her parents.
***
Billy lands in the field behind the house and decloaks his ship. It takes Serena’s entire family to get her out of bed and into a wheelchair, Emily putting on her shoes and her mother trying to find some clothes that will still fit her.
“Aliens,” Charlie Stewart says as he stuffs clothing and a blanket into a bag for her, before handing it to Lauren, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Okay, here we go, your medicine,” Serena’s mother says, handing Serena the bag of fluids, but Serena shakes her head.
“Don’t think that’s gonna do me any good where I’m going,” she laughs, and her mother bursts into tears.
“Oh, mom,” Emily says, hugging her mother to try and stop her crying.
Billy knocks on the door. “It’s still a six day journey to KO-35,” he reminds, and Lauren nods, pushing Serena’s wheelchair towards the back door.
“You’ll find a way to call us,” Emily says as they walk to the ship, “When you get there? And when you know?”
“I’ll find a way,” Lauren agrees, and she lets Emily hug her one more time. When they pull apart, Emily presses her yellow samuraizer into Lauren’s hand, so that Serena will have the aid of the power while she’s in stasis. Lauren takes it with a firm nod.
“Can’t take the chair,” Billy says, reaching down to wrap an arm under Serena’s legs and around her back, “It’s gonna be cramped with the three of us, but we’ll manage.”
Billy lifts Serena up and she waves at her family, a tear trailing down her face that she doesn’t seem to notice. “I’ll see you soon, I hope,” she says as Billy carries her into the ship.
Lauren takes her things and follows, helping Billy lay her down on the bed in the ship’s back room, and as the ship’s door closes she looks back at Serena’s family to offer them a reassuring smile.
“Space,” Serena says a few moments later as Billy takes off, making Lauren come back to her, “We’re going into space.”
Lauren nods at her. “Space,” she agrees, “And then a whole other planet.”
“How in the world did you manage all this?” Serena wonders, holding out her hand for Lauren’s, and Lauren comes over to sit next to her.
She takes her hand, holds Serena’s firmly as the view from the window changes from blue sky to blackness dotted with stars. “It was a bit of work,” Lauren says casually, “And I owe a lot of people favors. But it’s worth it.”
“I hope you didn’t promise anything too extreme,” Serena says admonishingly, and Lauren decides not to tell her the second part of her deal with Kinwon.
“Nah,” Lauren waves it off, “We’ll hold a bake sale when you’re better, that’ll help.”
Serena laughs at her, and falls quiet as her eyes catch the window behind Lauren. Lauren looks, too, at the wonder that is space, and they sit that way for a long time in silence.
“Lauren?” Serena wonders, taking Laurens hand and tugging it up to her chest so she can hold it with both hands against her heart.
“Yeah?” Lauren replies, her own voice quiet and uncertain.
“You’ll be with me?” Serena says, and she sounds scared. “The whole time?”
Lauren reaches out with her free hand and lays it against Serena’s cheek, catching the small tear that leaks from Serena’s eye. She had seemed so ready to face her death, and now, at the idea that she might not have to, at the hope Lauren had given her for her life, she seemed more fragile than ever.
Lauren nods. “I’ll be with you.”
***
With all his complaints about the onslaught of attacks on KO-35, Kinwon forgot to mention how beautiful it was.
As they swoop in through the atmosphere, Lauren helps Serena find the strength to sit up and look out the windows at the lush green planet, and the glimmering silver city that will be her home while Serena undergoes treatment opens itself up with welcoming swirls of architecture. Lauren can see why Kinwon works so hard to defend it.
Beside her, Serena leans her head down onto Lauren’s shoulder, and they sit, arms wrapped around each other, until they land.
The Kerovian hospital they land at greets them warmly, the shipment of serum specifically designed for Serena having arrived the day before. They immediately change Serena into a soft silver gown, and escort her and Lauren to the underground level of the hospital where cryogenic patients are stored.
The week had been hard for Serena, but she’d held on with Lauren at her side, and now as they sit in a room full of cryogenic pods and monitors, the nurses prepping Serena for her stasis, Serena looks strong and hopeful.
Lauren helps her onto the cryo bed, but she doesn’t lie down. “Whatever happens,” Serena says, “I’m glad you didn’t give up on me.”
Lauren feels the tears welling in her eyes, and looks down as she takes a breath.
“Hey,” Serena says, bumping Lauren’s chin with her fist, “It’s gonna be okay.”
“You’re comforting me?” Lauren asks, frowning.
“Most of dying is comforting the people who love you,” Serena admits with a shrug, “And making them promise you things, in case you don’t make it.”
Serena looks at Lauren expectantly, and Lauren makes a face. “It’s a good thing you’re going to be fine, then,” she says, trying to smile, “Because I’m terrible at keeping promises.”
Serena takes her hand. “Emily is gonna need someone like you around for a while,” Serena says anyway, “And I know I don’t have to ask you to take care of her.”
“No,” Lauren agrees, “You don’t have to ask.”
Serena nods.
“It’s time,” a nurse says as the screen over the bed boots to life. Lauren takes Emily’s morpher out of her pocket, and presses it into Serena’s hand.
Serena takes it, flips it open, and draws a small kanji in the air to activate her powers. She’s too weak to morph, but anything will pull the morpher’s energy to her.
Out of the air pops a little handful of pebbles, and Serena catches them in her hand. She smiles, and hands what turns out to be a small bracelet of polished rocks to Lauren. “I learned that one when I was 9,” she tells Lauren, and then she shakes her head, “Okay, actually I think I made it up.”
Lauren smiles at her, at how silly and thoughtful she is even at times like this. She slips the bracelet onto her wrist, and then she helps Serena lay down into the bed. She holds the morpher over her chest with one hand, and nods at Lauren reassuringly.
“I’ll be here when you wake up,” Lauren says as the pod closes, and Serena smiles at her as the pod locks.
“I know,” she says, and then the nurse pushes some medication through the tube and Serena’s eyes flutter shut. A moment later, she’s concealed by the ice crystals that form over the tubes surface, and her heartbeat and vitals appear on the monitor above the tube.
Lauren watches as the nurse injects the first of a hundred treatments of Serena’s serum into her tube.
And then the waiting begins.
***
KO-35 is roughly the same size as earth, but the population is miniscule in comparison. Most of its inhabitants live in the main city, where a large shield protects them from invasion. Most of the battles happen, as Lauren finds out, in space, and she hadn’t exactly been able to bring a Zord with her.
“Oh, we have Zords,” a woman with bright pink hair tells her enthusiastically, “It’s the pilots that are somewhat hard to come by.”
“Well,” Lauren says, trying to look friendly, “Add one to the list.”
***
Lauren is given a place to stay, and Billy leaves for Aquitar. He tells her to call when they’re ready to go home, and promises to get word to Serena’s family that they had arrived in time.
Despite the apartment, Lauren spends most of her downtime sleeping in a chair in the cryobay next to Serena, and listening to her heartbeat.
Days go by slowly at first, and then they start melding all into one, and Lauren learns to keep track of time by the amount of medication cycles left in Serena’s treatment.
She reminds herself, of course, that no matter what the science and her hopes, their last ditch effort could fail. It wouldn’t be fair, but then life hardly ever is, and nothing about Lauren’s life had been fair so far.
Being born into a family of Samurai, taken from her family on the night of her parent’s deaths and unable to grieve, trained in isolation for years without so much as a single friend, or even a word from her brother to know if he was alright. Putting her own needs last, never learning to sing or being allowed to daydream, and devoting herself wholly to becoming a good samurai, the very best, in order to defeat a monster that, in the end, hadn’t been hers to defeat.
Her life sometimes seemed like a cruel trick, or a very unfunny joke. Lauren wasn’t sure she believed in anything, not in the way her friends did. In the goodness of people, like Emily, or in right always triumphing over wrong like Antonio. She hoped that it wasn’t all lies and disappointments forever, but she had no proof that it wasn’t.
If the universe owed her anything, if there was someone somewhere who wanted to make up for the hell her life had been so far, then Serena’s treatment would work, and she would live. Lauren would get just this one thing, if there was any fairness.
She was a Power Ranger, after all. It couldn’t all be misery for as long as she lived. All the rules said otherwise.
In the semi-darkness, Lauren lifts her hand to Serena’s pod and wipes away some of the ice with her sleeve. She looks at Serena’s sleeping face, at her short dark blonde hair, at the small smile on her lips.
She falls asleep watching her, and hopes.
***
The day Serena is scheduled to wake up from her cryosleep, the shield in sector nine fails, and hundreds of Mooger wannabe’s swarm just outside the central city.
Lauren, along with the Kerovian Rangers and all the other non planetary rangers helping out, is called in to fight. As she morphs, she keeps thinking about her promise to be there when Serena wakes up, and how she’s going to break it.
But she’d also made a promise to the people of KO-35, and Lauren knows that Serena wouldn’t want her to break that one, either. So she goes, rushes off into battle with her Firesmasher blazing, wondering what Serena will feel and think when she wakes up alone, to receive the news that the treatment has or has not worked.
They’d be able to tell within moments of her waking up, with a simple blood test, if she was going to make it. And Lauren wouldn’t be there for that, either.
Still she goes, smashing monster after monster into bits, channeling all of her fear, her anxiety, and her desperation into her weapons and attacks.
The battle lasts for what feels like hours until the shield comes back up, and the few monsters left retreat to their ships.
Lauren’s armor disintegrates around her as she stares up at the shield, and then she turns, her heart still racing, her adrenaline pumping, and begins running back towards the city to Serena’s hospital.
“Lauren!” Astro Red calls after her as she pushes past him and his team.
“It’s Serena!” She shouts at them, as if it’s an explanation, “I have to go, I’m sorry!”
She skids to a halt as a Red Astro Glider pulls up just in front of her. She glances back at Astro Red, who nods at her.
“It’ll be faster,” he says, gesturing, and with a small smile of gratitude, Lauren hops onto the glider and takes off towards the hospital.
She practically tumbles off the glider at the hospitals entrance, barely managing to keep her legs under her and keep running, and she hears the glider zoom off behind her, returning to its owner as she pulls to doors of the building open.
She sprints down the stairs to the cryobay, taking them three at a time, tumbling over herself in her hurry and her excitement, and she’s breathing so hard she feels like her chest will burst open as soon as she stops.
She puts on the brakes and comes to a clumsy halt as she enters the bay and sees, to her astonishment and relief and fear, Serena sitting up in her silver gown, on the edge of her cryopod.
She’s talking to and nodding at a nurse, but as though she senses Lauren looking at her, she glances over and catches sight of her. Lauren’s chest is rising and falling with tremendous force, her whole body protesting what she’s just put it through. Serena looks at her, and all else seems to fade away. Serena looks at her, and Lauren wonders if her face can convey everything she wants to ask.
Serena looks at her, and smiles.
Her eyes light up, and she tilts her head back, keeping her eyes locked with Laurens, happy tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
It had worked.
A noise comes out of Lauren’s mouth, and she’s not even sure what it is. Some combination of relief and laughter that comes out as a shout, and then she’s rushing forward to Serena’s crypod, and Serena holds her arms out to her, and Lauren falls into them like they’re the only place in the world she ever wants to be again.
Lauren wraps her arms around Serena and buries her face in her shoulder, and Serena squeezes her tightly before bringing her hands up to Lauren’s head and petting her hair, kissing her forehead and then hugging her again.
“My brave, brave girl,” Serena says happily, and Lauren let’s herself cry.
***
The crypod has atrophied Serena’s muscles, so they move her to a recovery room higher up in the building, and feed her strange looking food that she eats hungrily, and Lauren finds a tablet like device that they can use to connect to Earths satellites, and through some brainstorming from both of them, they manage to make a phone call across the universe.
“Mom, dad,” Serena says into the tablet, and then there are excited shouts as whoever has picked up calls to everyone else in the house, “Emily?”
“We’re here,” Emily’s voice comes back a moment later, “We’re here!”
Serena’s eyes fill up with tears again as she says, “I’m coming home!”
***
Kinwon comes by to relieve Lauren of her duties shortly after the phone call ends, and he thanks her for her help. Serena listens to the whole thing, but then her secret it out.
“I can’t believe you,” Serena says, shaking her head, but something tells Lauren she isn’t really mad. “You risked so much to get me here, I wish you’d told me you were going to be risking your life, too.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Lauren insists, “A few zord battles, some low level minions. Really!”
Serena rolls her eyes. “You’re ridiculous,” she says admonishingly, “Completely impossible.” But then her face softens into a more serious look. “I can’t ever repay you for all of this.”
“You don’t have to,” Lauren says immediately, “You being alive is enough of a reward.”
Serena looks at her curiously for a long moment, and then she reaches over for Laurens hand where it’s resting on the bed. Lauren lets her take it, and then Serena leans forward, and as Lauren looks up Serena’s lips meet hers.
It’s a very brief, gentle kiss, but from the way it makes Lauren’s skin tingle and her stomach flip, she hopes it’s the first of many, many more.
Serena looks almost bashful at having done it, so Lauren kisses her in return, and then they both look like blushing idiots.
“I almost forgot,” Lauren says, and she pulls away to her small bag, pulling out a very small heart shaped box, “I got you something.”
Serena gasps as she hands it over, lifting the lid. “You remembered!”
Inside the box are four chocolate candies.
Serena pats the bed beside her, and Lauren hops up, and Serena breaks one of the chocolates in half and hands Lauren a piece before popping the other in her own mouth.
“How is it?” Lauren asks her, and Serena closes her eyes and chews.
“It tastes,” she says happily, “Like possibilities.”
Then Serena leans her head against Lauren’s, and Lauren gently wraps her arm around Serena’s shoulders, and together they eat chocolates and wait for the ship that will take them home.