Number 3. Recovering...hmm. Wonder how that's gonna work out (well, you do. I don't).

Chapter Summary:

Kai tries to recover. Really, he does. But it's harder than it looks.

Especially when his friends start following him.

/ /

Where Kai tries to ignore his friends, and ends up exploding. Figuratively.

(Again, Season 7 Spoilers)

Recover

Kai tries to recover.

But settling back into the Airjitzu Temple is harder than he previously thought, and it's for a number of reasons.

The nightmares, for one.

He'd gotten a firm grip on them, but now, he's lost control. They usually kept him awake, and, when he managed to stay up for multiple days in a row, his friends would make him sleep.

And, if they've ever heard him scream in the night, they've never told him (it makes him think he doesn't actually talk in his sleep, but he knows otherwise).

They haven't asked him about his obvious troubled sleep, but he knows they will soon.

The same goes for being 'Time's Champion'.

The next reason was prolonging the family dinner.

Don't get him wrong; Kai's ecstatic that he finally has his biological family back. He's happy that Nya's in her best possible place.

But the thing is, he isn't.

Nya has tried and tried to get him to go to dinner with their parents, or even just meet up for tea.

But every time he sees their faces, he remembers Wu, and just like that he remembers that he isn't going to see him again.

Kai runs every time, and Nya still hasn't been successful yet.

The last reason is avoiding his friends.

It isn't because Nya keeps pestering him about their parents. It isn't because Jay's nagging has gotten on his nerves. It isn't because whenever he walks into an occupied room, all conversation stops.

It isn't their fault.

It's his, really. They've been trying everything they can to include him, so when he says 'no' to enough proposals, they tell 'master' Lloyd.

It's when Lloyd asks if he wants to join him on a walk around the city and he declines yet again, when his Ninja friends decide to follow him around, wondering what these 'errands' are and how they're more important than hanging around them.

And it's now, late in the night, when he feels the familiar chill of watching eyes.

Kai resists the urge to sigh and continues walking down the vacant street, fingers twitching. Don't get angry. Don't get angry... He chants wishfully, but it doesn't work. Hasn't worked for the last eight months (because that was when he'd snapped, and that clean break still hasn't mended yet).

He whirls around, fire blazing in his stomach, and he lets out a snarl that completely disregards any thought of how big the bags under his eyes are. "This is the third time this week! Are you guys trying to piss me off? If you are, congratulations, because it's working!" He yells, and his friends are quick to drop in front of him, and it's a small relief when he sees Lloyd isn't there with them, because that means he isn't stupid enough to follow him – that he was and still is prepared to wait for Kai to tell him everything in his own time.

"Kai we...we were just-" Jay tries to explain, but Kai's done.

"Trying to figure out what I've been doing?" Zanes', "Yes, actually" doesn't help their case. "Well, if you want to know so badly, I've been stopping crimes! Threatening thieves, taking out rapists." They all wince at that, and Kai's hands clench, because he can't stop. Won't stop. Not after how damn nosy they've been. "And I do it because I can't sleep! What would you do if your mentor – the one person you respected more than anyone else – sacrificed himself to spend what's likely to be the rest of his years in 'lost time'? What would you do if you knew you could have saved him? What would you do if you made a terrible mistake you couldn't take back?" Kai laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "You know what I did. I ran like a damn coward. I had to piece myself back together, and yet, it seems I haven't done it well enough. You're all standing here because of me, and I can't..." He stops there, the heat oozing out of his voice, and suddenly he's done. He's not doing this anymore. "Tell Lloyd to meet me at the place we first met. He'll know where I mean."

Kai turns away and walks down the dark street. He hears footsteps race towards him seconds later, and his temper flares once more. "Don't follow me." And, just like that, they stop, and Kai turns a corner and vanishes from view.

He breathes heavily, for a while, clenching and unclenching his fists as he walks, shaking.

I understand. He thinks, and he stops in the middle of the pathway, hands covering his face. I understand why they're worried. Kai leans against a nearby wall, running a hand through his spiky hair. But they can't just follow me around. I don't know how long they've been watching me tonight, or if they saw me scare that thief away. He shakes his head, sliding down the wall. It doesn't matter. They don't have any right to stalk me. But they wouldn't have done it if I just went to these stupid things they think I might like. They wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been avoiding them.

It's my fault.

Kai stands, hands clenched by his sides. But I'm going to make it right.

I'm going to meet Lloyd and tell him everything.