AN: All right, here it finally is! After like three years of trying to write this, it's here. I'm super pumped about this, you guys. All right, down to business. The fic title is from the Star Trek: the Next Generation episode of the same name (which I do not own), and some of the plot is inspired by said episode, while this chapter's title is from "Say Goodbye" by Skillet (which I also do not own). As a note, once I finish this fic I will publish two alternate endings to this fic, one somewhat more angsty and one a lot more angsty, as separate fics (I originally had four alternate endings, but two of them were just too dark for my tastes). Enjoy!
Dr. Julien's funeral was a very nice funeral, probably as nice as a funeral could get. There was soft and solemn music, simple decorations, and several speakers, ranging from the man's former colleagues from long ago to his creation-slash-son. The service and the following reception alike were closed to the public, allowing in only those who the old inventor had actually known, but the turnout on the streets was enormous. It almost seemed like Ninjago itself had turned out to honor the man who built one of their famous protectors. There were gatherings on almost every corner, everyone gossiping about what this might mean for Ninjago's future now that one of smartest people anyone knew of was dead and the protectors of Ninjago were in mourning.
And none mourned more or was more gossiped about than Zane, who, as the reception proceeded winding down, drew away from the few remaining guests milling about and disappeared.
Nya was the one to find him first after all but the ninja and their closest allies were gone.
"I found him!" She called out in relief, eyeing the nindroid with concern. Zane was sitting in a corner of the reception hall's backroom, knees pulled up to his chest, arms around his legs and face buried in his arms. Nya sat next to him tentatively and, when that got no response, said softly, "Hey."
Zane did not respond.
"I know you probably aren't ready to hear this, but we're here for you," Nya stated gently.
The other four ninja rushed into the small room, each coming to an abrupt stop when they saw the two sitting together. (At the back of the pack, Cole came in too quickly and, when Kai stopped, ran right into him and nearly knocked him over.)
"Oh. Uh, are we interrupting something? Is this a bad time?" Lloyd asked carefully.
Nya shook her head. "I don't think so. In fact, I think this is a very good time."
"How can you say that?" Zane's voice came muffled from behind his arms. "How can any time be good right now?"
Nya winced. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant that it's good to be together when something bad happens, especially something this bad."
Zane didn't say anything else.
Nya motioned to the four standing ninja to come closer and sit, and they did, making a rough circle.
"I'm really sorry this happened," Cole offered to Zane.
"Yeah, me too," Jay affirmed.
"You know, I kind of know how you feel," Kai said softly.
That got a response. Zane's head shot up and he stared at Kai inquisitively.
"Nya and I lost our parents too," Kai explained. "But we got through it, because we had each other."
"And like we had each other, you have all of us," Nya added gently.
Zane stared off into the distance. He murmured, "For a long time, he was everything to me. Then I lost him, then I forgot him, then I remembered him and in doing so lost him again, then I found him. Now I've lost him a third time."
Lloyd made a sympathetic sound. "I don't know what to say, you know, but I want you to remember we're here for you."
Slowly, Zane nodded. "I will."
"Well, are you ready to head back to getting Darkley's turned into a real academy?" Jay asked brightly, standing and offering a hand to Zane.
Zane shook his head. "I would like to stay here a little longer."
"We'll stay with you," Cole suggested.
"I would rather be alone, thank you," Zane stated, looking down at his knees.
"If you're sure," Nya said doubtfully.
"I am sure," Zane replied.
"All right. Guess we'll head back, then," Kai said slowly, standing.
The others who were sitting by Zane stood as well and together the five friends trailed out of the room, each glancing back at least once at their brother who remained sitting.
They found Wu, walked out of the funeral home, and made their way back to the academy from New Ninjago City together, then they split apart to their tasks to refurbish Darkley's Boarding School for Great Children, formerly Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys, into the new Sensei Wu's Academy. Jay and Wu went to work in the staff lounge, Cole and Kai headed to the classrooms, Nya continued fixing up the bathrooms' mechanisms, and Lloyd went to start cleaning up the entryway. He didn't actually have to help, since he didn't plan on teaching at the school, but he liked helping his team.
Lloyd was unable to work for long, however, as the doorbell rang almost as soon as he stepped into the entryway.
"Zane, why are you using the doorbell?" Lloyd wondered aloud, heading for the door and opening it. "Feeling better-"
Lloyd stopped mid-sentence. Standing in front of him was not, in fact, Zane. Instead, in front of him was a woman with graying brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, thick black-rimmed glasses, and a briefcase in her hand. She looked vaguely familiar, but not in a way that would make Lloyd recognize her.
"Oh. Uh. Hi?" Lloyd said, uncertainty coloring the tone of his voice. He looked over his shoulder, begging internally that someone would come along and handle this so he wouldn't have to. Nobody came. Sighing inwardly, Lloyd turned back to the woman. "Um, the academy isn't open yet, if you're here to sign a kid up or something."
The woman arched an eyebrow. "Do I look like I'm here to 'sign a kid up or something?'"
"I don't know. We haven't opened the academy yet, so I haven't actually seen what someone who's here to sign a kid up looks like yet-" Lloyd's voice trailed off as the woman brushed right past him, heading into the old school. "Hey! You can't come in here!"
"Try to stop me if you want to, but I have important business with the ninja," the woman said firmly, continuing walking.
"Well, then, you should be talking to me, because I'm one of the ninja," Lloyd said just as firmly.
The woman stopped walking. She eyed Lloyd up and down. "You're wearing a suit. Not a ninja suit, an actual suit."
"There was a funeral today. A pretty important funeral, actually," Lloyd fumbled.
"I heard. That's part of why I'm here," the woman stated, and she started walking again. "So let's say you are one of the ninja. I suppose your face is familiar, but I've never really concentrated on the other ninja."
"What do you mean 'other ninja?' Wait, you're not some kind of ninja yourself, are you?" Lloyd asked, trying to keep up with her. The woman sure walked fast, like she knew exactly what she wanted and was already on her way to go get it.
"No, I meant the ninja other than the white ninja," the woman replied. She turned a corner and paused when she ended up at the end of the hallway. Not deterred for more than a moment, she turned around and began walking in a new direction. "I need to talk to the whole group."
"You know, if you really do need to talk to us ninja, I can get you to a meeting room and then go get the others and bring them there," Lloyd suggested.
"That would be lovely," the woman said, sounding like she thought it was quite the opposite of lovely.
"Here, there's a conference room right here," Lloyd told her, pulling open a door and beckoning to the woman. "If you want, you can make yourself, uh, a coffee or something, Jay and Nya always make sure that there's a way to make drinks in everything they work on."
"Thank you," the woman said flatly, stepping into the room.
Lloyd let the door close. The second the door latched shut, he rushed for the other ninja. "Guys! Something's going on!"
Kai and Cole poked their heads out of two side-by-side classrooms.
"What's going on?" Kai wondered. He held a projector reel in his hands.
"Put that down, we're having a meeting," Lloyd told him.
"Don't have to tell me twice, I'm not a fan of cleaning," Kai snorted, tossing the projector reel over his shoulder. The resulting clatter was loud and unpleasant, and Lloyd winced slightly at the noise as Kai stepped out of his classroom.
"What's the meeting about, kid?" Cole wondered, stepping out of his classroom and joining Lloyd and Kai in the hall.
"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me," Lloyd stated, heading for the staff lounge.
"Nya's calling a meeting and she wouldn't tell you what it's about?" Kai asked curiously, following him.
"No, not Nya. This woman who just rang the doorbell then came on in like she owned the place," Lloyd explained. He stuck his head into the staff lounge. "Jay! Uncle Wu!"
Jay looked up from tinkering with the fridge. "Huh?"
"What is it?" Wu asked, stepping out from behind a screen.
"We're having some kind of meeting with somebody about something," Cole said helpfully when Lloyd just turned on his heel and marched away.
"...Okay?" Jay said uncertainly, following Lloyd, Cole, and Kai away.
"Most intriguing," Wu commented, joining the group.
The five of them went down the hall and found Nya stepping out of one of the bathrooms, wiping her hands on a rag.
"Hey, sis. Want to come to a mysterious meeting with someone Lloyd just met?" Kai asked her.
Nya frowned. "What?"
"We're not clear on the details either," Jay confessed. "Lloyd won't tell us."
"Because Lloyd doesn't know," Lloyd said over his shoulder. "The woman said she wanted to talk to the whole group of us. She didn't really say anything else."
"Really? Nothing else?" Cole wondered.
"Well, she did say that she has important business with us, but that she doesn't pay much attention to any of us but Zane," Lloyd offered. He stopped in front of the conference room he had left the woman in.
"Great, a Zane fangirl," Kai groused. "This is going to be so much fun. Not."
The group of six entered the conference room and found a woman sitting at the head of a long table, papers spread in front of her.
"Have a seat," the woman instructed coolly.
"If you insist," Wu said graciously, and he took a chair on one side of the table. The others followed suit much more hesitantly.
The woman's eyes trailed across each of their faces. "I recognize each of you, only vaguely from magazine covers and newsreels and such, as I never paid much attention to the ninja except one."
"Yup, she's a Zane fangirl," Kai groaned, leaning back in his chair.
"Shhhh!" Nya hissed at him. "I think she was about to tell us what she's doing here."
Kai made a rude noise.
"Ignore him," Nya told the woman. "You were saying?"
"You're the samurai, correct?" The woman asked.
Nya smiled. "Correct, and glad to be given my dues."
"Mmm," the woman hummed. "You may as well be here for this."
"Here for what?" Nya asked.
The woman ignored her, turning to Kai. "And you're the red ninja."
Kai gave her a lazy nod. "Yup."
"The black ninja, the blue ninja, the green or gold ninja, and the sensei," the woman continued, looking at each person when she named them. Cole nodded, Jay just peered at her papers, Lloyd gave a tight smile, and Wu also nodded. The woman smiled. "Good. This should be easy enough."
"And what is 'this,' exactly?" Wu inquired, taking a sip of tea from a teacup he had pulled from seemingly nowhere.
The woman continued to smile, but she said nothing.
"Listen, if you're here to just comment on who we are, or even fangirl over who we are, we have public appearances for that," Cole stated. "Right now, we're kind of busy, and we're not in the mood to chit-chat or make small talk, what with just attending a funeral and all."
"Of course, of course," the woman said smoothly. "I'll cut right to the chase, then. I'm not here to chit-chat, make small talk, or, heaven forbid, fangirl. I'm here to make a demand you would be wise to obey, as I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine."
"What are you talking about?" Jay asked curiously, still trying to get a good look at the papers in front of the woman and nearly falling out of his chair to do so.
"Let me introduce myself," the woman stated. "My name is Azizi. Azizi Julien."
Jay did fall out of his chair at that with a loud "Ow!"
Kai sat bolt upright. "Did you say-"
"Julien?" Cole finished, eyeing the woman thoughtfully.
"She did," Nya remarked, also watching the woman. "You wouldn't happen to be a relative of the recently deceased Dr. Julien, would you?"
"I would be," Azizi said calmly. "His daughter, to be precise."
Jay climbed back into his chair and, as if nothing had happened, asked inquisitively, "You're a nindroid?"
Azizi shook her head fervently. "Of course not! I'm a real person, as real as each of you. I'm no robot. I'm Dr. Julien's biological daughter."
"Oh, man. I'm, uh, I'm sorry for your loss," Lloyd said awkwardly.
"Don't be. My father assumed I was dead and left me behind to, as I've recently found out, go off into Birchwood Forest and build robots. I have no grief for him," Azizi said calmly.
"Oh. Okay, then," Lloyd said even more awkwardly.
"Moving on. I did not attend the funeral so as to give anyone who actually knew him, as I apparently did not, time to grieve, but now that the funeral service and reception are over, I figured the present would be the best time to come and have a talk with you," Azizi explained.
"A talk about what?" Cole asked suspiciously.
"Dr. Julien left no will. I checked. So, as Dr. Julien's only legal child, I am the de facto heir to his estate," Azizi told him.
"Ah. You're wondering what he left behind," Wu realized. "Well, your father left quite a few blueprints, some books, likely the title to that tree he lived in-"
"Wait a minute, what about Zane?" Jay asked, trying again to get a look at Azizi's papers. "He's Dr. Julien's kid too."
"But not legally," Cole realized. "He was built, not born. He's got a claim to his dad's stuff, sure, but it's an emotional claim, not a legal claim."
"The claim has no bearing, and not just because the claimant isn't legally Dr. Julien's child," Azizi agreed.
"So, you'd like the books and papers?" Wu suggested.
"Not just the books and papers. As heir, I am also titled to all of his inventions," Azizi pointed out.
"I suppose so," Wu said slowly.
"That would mean that protector robot in Birchwood Forest, the little tea-serving robot in the lighthouse, maybe the falcon," Jay listed off.
"I don't care about any of those. They may stay as they are. I want my father's most important and innovative invention, the one you all pretend you don't own, the one you all act like is a person but really isn't, the one probably still at its creator's funeral since it isn't here," Azizi explained.
The others in the room froze, processing what that might imply.
"She can't mean what I think she means," Nya breathed finally.
Azizi smiled. "I mean exactly what you think I mean. I own Zane."
