Okay, THIS chapter is what makes me excited, trust me. It took me an accumulative of 6 hours to write, four of which were spent back to back with literally no break, resulting in me not going to be until 2:30 in the morning, so I worked freaking hard on this chapter, and I hope you guys appreciate it because it's supposed to answer most of the questions that I created from earlier in the story, such as the unfiinished letter Zane finds and the piece of the will Wu gets.

-LizzyLucky

Zane stood outside the door of his father's workshop in the birchwood forest. It was snowing lightly, the sky completely white with winter clouds. He knocked three times, waiting as several clatters were heard inside.

The door creaked open to reveal Dr. Julien, smiling gleefully.

"Ah! Zane! I'm so glad you could make it!" He grinned, opening his arms and rushing forward to hug Zane.

"Of course, father! You said it was important." Zane, though delighted to be meeting with his father, held a more serious air about him.

"Yes, yes, I did. Please, step inside!" Dr. Julien insisted, stepping aside and opening the door farther. Zane nodded and walked in through the door, looking around at the recently cleaned home.

"Now, if you'll just follow me down to my workshop, Zane, I have something very important to discuss with you." Dr. Julien said, clasping his hands. He still held a positive tone, but something in his expression faltered slightly, like he was worried, or nervous.

"Is something the matter?" Zane asked worriedly, following his father down the long, winding staircase. As they reached the bottom, Zane took note of the multiple blueprints scattered about the work desk in the corner of the room. There were pencils and erasers and measuring tools of all sorts strewn about.

Typically, especially for an inventor, this wasn't an odd thing, but his father tended to get messier and messier when he was really involved in a project. Based on the scrap metal, paper, tools, and many, many presumed prototypes sitting around the desk, Zane guessed that this was one of those projects. He chuckled a little, a fondness for his father's passion showing itself.

As he turned to look around the room further, he was surprised a little to see Wu standing in the opposite corner of the room.

"Nothing is wrong, quite, Zane, but this is a very serious matter, and it requires your full attention." Dr. Julien said, walking to stand beside Wu, who looked somewhat unsure of himself.

"I understand." Zane replied, not sure what else to say.

"Good. Very good, actually. Before we get started, I need you to understand just a few critical things." The tinkerer paused, watching Zane. "First, when we are finished, you will leave with no memory of what we did."

Zane nodded, an uneasiness settling in his stomach. Dr. Julien eyed him, then continued.

"Second, I need you to remain as calm as you can be while we discuss the situation."

Zane nodded again.

"And third, know that everything we do today..." Dr. Julien paused a moment.

"...is out of love for you. Understand, Zane?"

Once more, Zane nodded, curiosity and worry suddenly very intense in his gut.

Surprising him, Dr. Julien started laughing.

"Relax, Zane! Yes, this is a serious matter, but we aren't doing anything illegal!"

Zane's eyes widened slightly before he realized how stiff he'd gotten and he chuckled lightly with his father. Even Sensei Wu smiled a little. Dr. Julien took a breath and calmed himself, turning back to Zane.

"Now, Zane, I need you to come to terms with something with me. You understand how old I am growing, yes?" Dr. Julien's tone of voice went very quickly from being almost bubbly to be being more solemn. Zane, in response, frowned and looked at Dr. Julien worriedly. Slowly, he nodded.

"Good. It is a hard thing to accept, but I will not live forever. I am nearing my 80's now, and I cannot say how much longer I will be here."

Zane nodded, looking at the ground.

"I could be here for as little as two months. Or I may even last another ten years. And then again, I could just as easily lose my life today. I am simply getting too old, and the conditions of that tower I lived in were too poor. Not to mention my family history of having heart issues. I expect that, one day, these things will catch up to me, and my body will not be strong enough to withstand them." Dr. Julien explained.

"I understand." Zane said quietly.

"Good. I'm sorry to grieve you with these things, but the topic of your required presence has to do with this. Admittedly," Dr. Julien paused, chuckling to himself, "I am a terrible procrastinator. I am as old as I am, and I have yet to write my will."

Zane looked up at him curiously, apparently not expecting this news. In the background, Wu smiled amusedly to himself.

"I know that most have been known to write their wills personally, on their own, but I also feel that I wouldn't be able to include you adequately without your help. Now, before you say anything about it, yes, I do need your help with certain details, but the biggest matter at hand is a very specific piece of the will I indtend on passing to your teacher, Wu, but it needs your approval."

"My approval? What is it?" Zane, his curiosity piqued, took a few steps forward, glancing around.

"Ah, yes, heh, this is where I am uncertain." Dr. Julien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Zane, when I die, what will you do?" He asked, very seriously. To Zane, it sounded more... rhetorical. But the expression on his father's face said otherwise.

"I... Don't know. I cannot be sure. The first time I discovered the treehouse, and my memory switch, I relived everything I grew up with. I was sad, but I felt at peace because I finally knew where'd I'd come from, who my family was. And I'd made a family out of my Sensei, and my fellow students." Zane gave Wu a warm smile, which Wu returned fondly. "The difference now is that I already have that peace, and I've bonded with you enough to call you my father. It would be the same for me as if Kai, or Jay, or even Sensei Wu, had died. I do not think I would bear it well." He finished explaining. He grabbed onto his arm, rubbing it slightly as a nervous habit.

"Perfect!" Dr. Julien exclaimed, surprising Zane, who gave him an absolutely flabbergasted look.

"Ah, yes, I know, but this is exactly what I was expecting you to say. You're right that we can't be sure as to how you will react, but I myself am fairly certain as to where it may go."

Zane looked at him, both confused and eager.

"I believe you will feel as though you no longer have a family. Being your creator, I am technically your only living relative. You've never met my parents, obviously, and I never had any brothers or sisters, so you can't really say that you had grandparents or aunts, uncles, cousins, the like. Put simply, when I die, you will be an orphan once more, and, like you said, I don't believe you will handle it very well." Dr. Julien rubbed his chin, thinking hard.

"Okay... How, specifically, is this relevant to the separate piece of the will you mentioned?" Zane asked, a genuine curiosity bubbling in his voice. Wu half-chuckled behind Dr. Julien.

"Knowing, at least thinking, that you will feel alone after such an event, I believe that," He paused, biting his finger as he tried to think of the proper words, "You will be in need of a new father-figure."

Zane, taken aback by his creator's words, almost stumbled backward a step, suddenly feeling that he knew what would be said next.

"A new..." He started, trailing off. The look Dr. Julien gave him said that he probably sounded distant or anxious. He looked between Dr. Julien and Wu multiple times, feeling somewhere between flustered and... something else, completely unidentifiable. He couldn't tell if it was a good feeling or a bad one, whether he was shocked or simply unprepared, but regardless, it was probably the most bizzare emotion he'd ever felt.

"Yes, I know." Dr. Julien scratched the back of his head, wearing the kind of expression you expect when you hear the phrase 'nervous laughter.'

"It's a bit... drastic sounding, I'm sure, but after giving it some thought, I'm more than certain that this is what I want to do. You and Wu are already so close and have a very family-like bond already. I could see it that first day you discovered me in that tower. Maybe not quite a traditional father-son bond, but many of your own traits, as well as Wu's, are untraditional anyway. By the way that you tell me of your teacher, I believe Wu would not only serve as an ideal Sensei to you, but also as an ideal father-figure." Dr. Julien explained.

Zane looked around the room, suddenly very focused on taking in every little detail. Aside from the mess around the inventor's desk, to his right, he could turn and see the stairwell's end just behind him, and took note of how Dr. Julien stood about 7 feet in front of him, facing his direction. Wu stood another couple feet behind that, and off to the right, just a bit. It was as his eyes traveled the room that Zane realized how uncomfortable all three of them looked in the situation. Why did such a matter have to be so flustering?

"Zane?"

He shook himself out of his mini-stupor and looked up, realizing that his father stood much closer to him now, a hand extended to touch his shoulder.

"I need to know what you think." Dr. Julien stated, almost flatly.

"I don't know. I don't know what I think. Or how I feel about it. It isn't a bad feeling, though." Zane decided.

"That's okay. Of course! Believe it or not, son, you're handling it much better than I'd anticipated." Dr. Julien smiled warmly, pulling his hand off Zane's shoulder.

As he said that, though, Zane was hit with the realization of just how good it felt to be called 'son.' It wasn't something he heard very often, and he didn't need it to be, but it brought down the full force of the fact that, despite him being a robot- rather, a Nindroid, he was just as much Dr. Julien's son as any other boy was his own father's. And so it was that Dr. Julien was just as much a father to Zane as any other man was to his son.

Zane couldn't really say what came over him exactly, but he suddenly felt a surge of pride and fondness for his father, and the very idea of the tinkerer passing away, as they'd been discussing for a while now, suddenly became much heavier a load on him than it had ever been before.

Without even thinking about it, Zane grabbed onto Dr. Julien's retreating hand, causing him to look back up at Zane's face. He was a little bit bewildered to see Zane's eyes brimming with tears and his face reflecting almost that of betrayal. Zane, admittedly, was just as bewildered, not really knowing why he was suddenly so upset. Yet what really surprised the both of them was when Zane found himself leaning forward and wrapping around Dr. Julien in a massive hug, holding on like his life depended on it.

Dr. Julien took a step back, arms floating at his sides for a moment, completely unsure, before he realized what was happening and wrapped his arms around Zane, returning the hug full-heartedly.

"I'm not going anywhere yet, I promise. And even when I do, I won't ever stop being your creator or father, Zane." Dr. Julien reassured. Zane, in response, tightened his embrace.

As the moment ended, the two pulled apart and Dr. Julien placed one hand on each of Zane's shoulders.

"All we need is to know whether or not you're okay with this. I will always be your father, but you have to be able to turn to someone when I'm not here, and I know full well by now that you won't do that unless you have someone you can feel comfortable confiding in. Please, Zane. I want to do everything I can to make sure that you're not left feeling alone when I can't physically be here for you anymore." Dr. Julien gave him a pleading look, searching Zane's expression. Zane, having recomposed himself now, closed his eyes and took in a large breath, letting it out slowly as he thought hard about the situation.

After a long moment, he opened his eyes, determination filling them.

"Okay."

Dr. Julien looked incredulous for a flash of a second, almost like he wasn't expecting that answer, but quickly replaced the expression with a large grin, turning to look at Wu, who looked both relieved and ecstatic over the situation. The difficult part of the situation was over!

While it seemed like things were done, there were still a few things that needed doing.

"And you're certain?" Dr. Julien turned back to Zane, looking him in the eye.

"Absolutely." Zane replied, smiling a little.

"Oh, this is great!" Dr. Julien clapped his hands together, almost turning back to hug Zane again he was so happy.

"Now, I must admit, I had Wu here mainly so he could hear for himself what you decided, and so I could see if you could really be comfortable enough with him to speak your mind. But he also serves one other purpose, and this needs to be done before you leave." Dr. Julien gestured to Wu, turning in a full circle and stopping when he was pointed at his desk, which he walked over to briskly.

"Yes?" Zane asked, following behind him.

"I- um, I'm afraid you may not like this bit very well. Do you remember what I told you when you came in? The first of three things you needed to keep in mind?"

"I-" Zane was prepared to answer, but had to pause to think, having nearly forgotten. His face dawned with realization, and he continued.

"I won't leave with any memory of what we spoke of today." He said, a little more quietly.

"Right." Dr. Julien confirmed. "However, something I left out, intentionally, mind you, was that later on, you will be granted access to today's memories. It will be a little bit of a wait, but after my passing, which could be, as I said, anywhere between the next few months or as many as 10 years, you will need to heal to a certain point before I believe you will truly be able to accept Wu as a father-figure. This is why I am writing a separate piece to the will, and will be handing it to him. You won't be allowed to so much as look at this piece, but it will tell Wu how long to wait, and how to know when it is the right time to re-introduce this idea to you." He began to explain.

"Which makes sense. I am curious, however, how will you suppress my memories of today until that point?" Zane asked. He looked over Dr. Julien's shoulder, watching as the old man tinkered with one of the many small devices scattered around his desk.

"That," Dr. Julien paused, lifting up the object in his hands, "Is where this comes in. The entire point of my, uh, project, here, is for this little trinket, which, if I programmed everything in correctly, will allow me to select a specific point from your past and virtually pause everything in your memory from then up until the moment the device is activated. Does that make sense?" He lifted the device up to eye level, examining it from every angle.

"I think so. How does it work?" Zane watched him turn it every which way, blowing dust off it and checking underneath its casing for any damage.

"That is where this horrible little piece of plastic and wiring takes its toll. I couldn't come up with very many ways in which I could suspend only a portion of your memory. I couldn't risk causing you to lose all your memory if I'd done something wrong. This was the final design, and it will do what it's intended to do, but it must be installed into your main wiring. And to do so, six of your core wires will have to be severed and integrated into these input and output entries."

At this, Zane's face fell. While it wasn't quite the same as it was for regular people, who didn't HAVE wires, having anything within your body severed wasn't too terrible comfortable. Quite the opposite, actually, especially if he really meant the CORE wires...

"It will take a moment to have the device prepared properly, especially if it has to last until... well, until whenever it is I pass away, which, once again, could be as long as 10 years... You have a few minutes, but now that we have this sorted out, and especially seeing how soon you will need to be at home, resting, it will need to be activated very quickly." Dr. Julien explained. He turned back to his desk, placing the device down and opening a panel on the side of the small object.

Zane watched him tinker with it for a few moments, but decided on walking over to Wu. The whole idea was still a little bit awkward, but he had one question in the back of his mind, burning his tongue.

"Sense?" He asked as he approached the old Master. Wu turned to him, an unreadable gaze falling on Zane.

"Was this... was this something you agreed to personally? I wouldn't feel right if it was something you felt required to do." He said slowly.

"Zane, I care for you very much. As do I Kai and Nya, Cole, Jay. You all mean very much to me, and it is just as much in my own interest as it is in your father's to be there for you if something goes wrong." Wu answered, giving Zane a sympathetic look. Zane looked to the side, not sure what needed to be said.

"The question, Zane, is whether or not you feel comfortable with me taking on that role. I will never be quite the same as your father. We differ greatly. I cannot provide the same kind of comfort, conversation, support, or any such thing that I know Dr. Julien can. It will be a little different. I agreed because I care for you as both a student and, put simply, as a child. I will always do what I can to be present in any kind of situation. What determines it all is whether you will accept such a presence from me when the time is right." Wu said. Zane looked at him fondly, smile growing somewhat.

"Thank you, Sensei." He said respectfully, bowing his head.

Contrasting his more serious and responsible tone of voice, Wu suddenly perked up and looked at Zane with faux exasperation.

"You are admirable and respectful, Zane. But am I too old for a simple hug?"

Zane blinked a few times, somewhat confused. As he realized that Wu was being sarcastic (something Jay taught him aaaall about), he laughed a little bit, voice slowly rising until his laughter rung more heartily.

"Forgive me, Sensei." He said, amusement still in his voice. Then, calming himself somewhat, he added, "I don't think the situation is quite right." He said, deciding with firmity. Wu smiled at him goofily.

Before either could continue the situation, Dr. Julien shouted, "HA!"

Zane jumped a little, turning around to find his father holding the same little device, smiling victorious.

"I think we are finally ready to get this thing installed." Dr. Julien said. His expression fell a little, but he kept up the positive attitude, walking over to join Zane and Wu, the device, as well as a piece of paper, in hand.

"What's-"

Zane meant to ask what the paper was, but, as if on cue, he ended up yawning widely instead, his eyes watering as he moved his hand to cover his mouth. Dr. Julien smiled sympathetically at Zane. He checked his wrist watch, making a 'yikes' face as he read '10:31 P.M..'

As Zane finished his yawn, shaking his head to realert his senses, he tried again.

"What is the paper for?"

"This? Ah, yes, I probably should have simply left it on the desk. I pulled it out a few hours ago, before you arrived. It was intended for a letter to send to you, actually, in a few weeks. I have considered creating a second treehouse. It could make for a number of good things. A second workshop, or perhaps to purely be a home, more comfortable than this, or as a fall-back in the case that Ninjago city is attacked again. It would require some work, and seeing as how you won't remember me telling you now, I figured it would be better if I sent my ideas as a letter in a few weeks, when we can discuss it properly. Big news, I'm sure! See, I would like to-" Dr. Julien cut himself off, shaking his head as he realized how side-tracked he would get if he kept going.

"Really, there isn't much on it. Aside from 'My Dearest Zane,' as most my letters will introduce themselves. I'll have to finish it tomorrow." Dr. Julien chuckled again, taking a breath and turning a bit so he could lift the device in his hands.

"Now, Zane, before you fall asleep in the spot, let's get you situated on a couch or something so we can install this properly. I don't want to sever the wrong wire because you were too tired to stay on your feet. And it's very late. I would assume you'd like to be in bed before you need to be up in the morning, yes?" He laughed again, turning around and walking toward the opposite end of the room at a couch.

"Just lay here, if you could." He said, gesturing broadly to the piece of aged furniture. Zane nodded his head, walking hesitantly to the couch and laying down on it.

It was at this point, though, that he realized how tired he was. His eyelids became very heavy and the conversation Wu and Dr. Julien started began to simply blur into a bunch of gargled sounds.

As his exhaustion finally caught up to him, he could only barely register when the panel on his chest had been flipped open. His father gave him a quick warning before six *snap*s could be heard, followed by six very sharp pains in his lower left abdomen.

The same spots continued to ache as the wires were twisted onto some foreign object and everything began to go hazy.

Where was he again?

And why did his side hurt?

Was that Dr. Julien standing over him? Or was it Sensei Wu?

No! Wait! It was both! Why were they both here?
Where was here?

Did it even matter?

And at that, Zane breathed out a sigh, the hazy colors and sounds above him finally fading to black, leaving him in a peaceful, blissful sleep.

-LizzyLucky

To be honest, this chapter seems totally awkward to me and a little rushed, despite how long I spent on it. Either way, it is what it is, which is a one-shot, which means I will not be rewriting it or doing any corrections aside from grammar. So that's that. I hope you guys liked it, and I hope I learn enough from what I didn't like to create even better stories in the future! Look for the next chapter, because it's where I start to wrap things up. Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

-LizzyLucky