My eyes opened slowly, the pain from before still stung, but only mentally. Like I could sense it, but it wasn't really happening. Not really. Not to me. Not to this version of myself. I lay on grass, soft, plush, almost unnatural. It cradled my head, my limbs, my body as if I were born out of the ground. In front of my eyes stood a figure clothed in green. At first, a spark of hope swelled in me, but this figure was darker than him. My vision cleared as I saw it wasn't someone I'd met before. But it was someone I was familiar with. He smiled down at me halfheartedly as I realized… he was dead.

I was dead.

Memories flooded back to me of where I had been… what I had done. Feelings of dread and panic came back to hit me. Everything was wrong where I had left it. I sat up slowly, observing my surroundings. There was nothing there, just an endless field of grass. No trees, no people, no clouds, no sky. Just the grass set in an empty void. I turned to the figure still standing next to me.

"I messed up… didn't I?"

He sat next to me, hugging his knees. "We've all messed up here."

I looked down at my hands, scars littering my form. Old scars resurfaced, new ones now healed. It was like the history of my body lie on my skin. "Do you know who I am?"

Morro nodded. "Watched you from up here. Not really sure why. You reminded me of myself I guess. It was funny. Watching you. Watching Lloyd."

"Lloyd." I sighed. "He was right… he was right the whole time."

"He's the green ninja. He tends to do that," He shrugged.

"I wish I could go back. Just to tell him. To tell him he was right, to tell him that I'm sorry, to try and fix this whole giant mess I've made for him to fix." I buried my face in my hands. "He shouldn't have to be the one to fix it."

"The kid does a lot," he agreed. "I'm sure he can handle it. People like us don't make it easy, but nothing gets in his way."

I looked back up at the emptiness that surrounded me. "I was so stupid! What was I doing?! I could never handle this!" I stood up, wanting to pace my thoughts out. "I just didn't get it. I had such a hard heart for so long, I was so set on this one mindset that I screwed everything up!"

"It's not your fault. Not really." He chimed in, still sitting.

"Yeah, okay, sure," I rolled my eyes.

"I mean… it kinda is. But you can't place all the weight on your shoulders."

I crossed my arms in front of my body, letting out a deep sigh. "… He loved me. Didn't he?"

Silence

"He really, honestly loved me, didn't he? The one person left on Earth who actually cared for me, and I decided to keep hating him. I push him away, I antagonize him. I was given one last chance, and I blew it!" Tears fell down my cheeks as I turned to face Morro. "How could I mess that up?"

I looked at me for a moment, blank. "I can't answer that for you. You're the only one who knows."

I looked back at him for a moment. "Why are you here?"

He stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm here to pick you up."