Yesssssss! Finally a new chapter! XD lots of stuffness will happen next chapter! I'm really excited! And the story is actually getting close to being done. Maybe five or six more chapters? =D

Xochi drank him in greedily. Kai. Her son. He looks so much older now, she thought lovingly, Nearly eighteen. Oh, my dear, dear Kai.

"Hiruto, he's here," she breathed. She was so proud of him-standing up to Julia without a trace of fear. Visible fear, she corrected herself, He was so good at hiding his feelings. It was true-even on the night they had to leave, to protect the ancient map-lay a false trail, Hiruto had said, he had taken it all in stride. Being his mother, she could see through his fourteen-year-old charade to the fear of never seeing them again.

Against the sensei's word, they had told him more than just the vacation story. They were going on a journey, to protect something that no one else could protect. At first he was determined to go with them, sure that he could protect them from whatever threat they were misleading, but they had argued that someone had to take care of Nya, and as much as he loved his parents, he knew had to be the big brother that time. He loved Nya so much, she remembered. What could she be doing now, back in Ninjago?

"Xochi," her husband whispered urgently, drawing her out of her reverie. She looked up quickly to see Kai and Topaz talking. Or rather, Topaz was talking, as Kai was listening with a tense, angry look on his face.

Not Topaz, she corrected herself, Julian. Julian Renala. Her face hardened as she watched the woman who had torn their family apart converse with their son. Julian-Topaz, working with Wu's brother, Garmadon, had made their lives a constant danger, making raising their young children incessantly difficult. It was a struggle to keep the two toddlers away, safe from and oblivious to everything that was thrown at them, and Xochi had an underlying hope that if they left to lay a false trail for the map, they would draw the danger away from their children. She could only hope that Nya was safe. A least Kai was here, safe, for now.

She saw Julian gesture to where she and her husband were held prisoner, and a split second later, Kai followed her pointed finger, and met their eyes.

Mother? Father? she saw him mouth, shock painted over his face. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and for a moment he looked like he wanted to leap over to them, give them a hug, and never let go.

You can't, love, she whispered, hoping he'd understand what she was saying. He had to stop Topaz-he had to stop Julian Renala. His face took on a resigned look, and she looked on proudly as he turned back to face Julia, newfound hate on his face.

She was talking again, more intensely this time. If Xochi knew anything about Topaz-Julian, it was that she knew how to manipulate her victims. She's blackmailing him, she realized, fear growing in her heart. Kai wouldn't be able to stand for long against a threat to his family. The protective man in him wouldn't allow it.

Xochi watched as her son lowered his eyes. Broken. His whole stance suggested it, beaten down. Hopeless. Kai, don't do it, she cried silently, It's not worth it!

"Stop," she heard her husband whisper desperately. They watched as the air seemed to whoosh out of him. He muttered several words, and Julian Renala smiled triumphantly. She had won.

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Lindsey stirred.

She felt small. Tiny, actually, and rather squished. Prying her eyes open, she found herself looking at a vast blackness.

But where was she? She remembered… nothing. She couldn't remember! There was nothing! She knew something had happened, but nothing was coming! It was like a feather at the edge of her mind-she knew something was there, but she couldn't figure out what!

Looking around, she waited for her vision to adjust, but it remained completely dark. She looked down, but she couldn't see her feet. She couldn't even feel her feet! She couldn't feel anything!

She started to hyperventilate. At least, in her mind. She couldn't tell if her body was doing so.

Wait a minute, she thought suddenly, realizing where she was. I'm in my mind! My body isn't here because… because… why? Whenever she thought of herself, it was usually in third person. She tried to imagine herself now, but she couldn't. She couldn't bring a picture of herself. She couldn't imagine anything! It was just her presence, alone with her panicky thoughts.

Concentrating, she tried to think of something. Anything. She knew so many things, but nothing came to mind now. It was infuriating! She felt robbed. She knew something was there, but it elusively danced away, just past her mental grasp. Please, somebody, help! she cried, but no sound came out. Then something nudged at the edge of her mind, and she grabbed at it desperately.

Kai. What was… Kai? Saying the word on her mind brought a rush of feelings-happiness, worry, warmth… she strained to retain the single thought she had been able to produce.

A person. She remembered that. He was a… ninja. But why did she know him? She wracked her empty brain for answers, but they evaded her nimbly.

She tried to picture him. Hair. He had spiky brown hair. It was silver at the tips… why? This time it wasn't a loose thought, she really didn't know.

She moved on. He was strong. Arms and legs, covered by a slightly charred ninja outfit. As she imagined him, this bit she somehow knew, something began to take shape in the gloom. Something… not so black. It started out as a lighter smudge against the dark, but within seconds, it solidified into a person. Kai. He was just a she imagined him, except for the fact that his face was smudged out. Taking the cue, she began to picture his face. His eyes shone with passion, and his eyebrows were poised, one with a small nick in the top. The scar continued lightly below his eye, and she wondered where he had gotten it. His mouth was tilted up in a cocky smile. She remembered! She could remember him as clear a day. Not much about him, and certainly nothing else, but she had his image firmly lodged in her mind.

Suddenly, something in the void moved. Something… darker. Was it possible to be blacker than black? Peering curiously at it as it twisted and writhed, her concentration on Kai's image waned. He flickered slightly, an the coloring of his gi wasn't as bright as it was before.

Totally unprepared for what happened next, she watched in surprise as the thing darted over to her rendition of Kai, twisted itself around it, and squeezed it tightly. With a light pop, it disappeared.

Hey, she thought indignantly, You can't do that! Kai is mine! As she did so, she formed another imagination of Kai. This time he was sitting down, leaning forwards. It made the image more lifelike, and she wondered what else she could make it do. Her eyes widened as she glimpsed a colored background behind him. Then she saw him move! He leaped off a large, metallic contraption, and it disappeared with a flash as he darted towards a mass of crumpled metal. Gates. Her vision of the scene expanded as she somehow recognize all the new things in her line of vision. A… park, she realized, An amusement park. Something tugged at the edge of her mind again, and she felt as if she had a connection to the amusement park somehow. Something important.

Something was wrong. She strained to get a better look, but everything was hazy. Blurred. Then, as suddenly as before, the picture vanished with a pop.

The blacker thing was back, snapping and unsnapping itself open and closed. Lindsey couldn't hear it, or touch it, or even see it. It was more like she FELT it. Quit it, she snapped, I'm trying to concentrate.

The answer came as a sharp hiss. Virusss… Virusss ssstay.

A virus? she puzzled, What is a virus? And why is there one in my mind?

Kai was there again. She struggled to hold onto him as she watched the scene unfold before her, like a movie. No… a memory. He was carried up, up, up, away from her. Her perspective turned towards a strange, flat-looking device on the silver floor. Virus. She remembered, at least a little bit. The moving picture twitched for a moment, then Lindsey heard-felt-a voice. Her own. "I infected Bob with a virus that will destroy the monster," she explained. Then that scene vanished as well. You're the virus, she realized, glaring at the black smudge. It merely danced around, waiting for her to imagine something else that it would undoubtably snuff out as well. You got inside of my mind… made me lose everything in the darkness… get out!

Refussse… the answer came again, and she growled in frustration. Kai… Kai needed help. Her help. She tried to imagine him again, but before she could even make the air shimmer lighter, the virus snuffed it out again.

You're annoying. You know that, right?

Yesss…

This was going nowhere.

Kai had a golden stick. A sword. She pictured it, as detailed as she could, and it appeared in front of her for a few seconds before the virus got to it.

Many swords. She spread them out in her mind, and watched as they winked out one by one. Feeling for the virus, she found it more difficult to find. When at last she caught sight of it, it seemed a little smaller, a little less dark. She had an idea.

A sword took much less time to think up, being such a simple thing, and she started imagining them-sword after sword, never changing, all glowing with a shimmering aura. The glow lit up her mind, making it slightly easier to see the virus as it dashed among the blades, winking them out with a series of popping noises. As she created more and more, she could see the virus getting smaller and smaller. Each replica she created was fuzzier than the last.

Then, all of a sudden, she stopped. Her memory had gone! She gazed across the blackness, confused. Sword. She recalled the word, and she could remember making them, trying to power down the virus, but she couldn't remember a thing about it. It was as if it were never there, just like everything else in her mind. Gone. Smothered by the impenetrable blackness. I need something else, she realized, Something to wear it down.

But… Kai was all she had left! She couldn't bring herself to sacrifice that memory. With everything else winked out, he was all she had. When the virus took him, too, she would be nothing. Just a presence, floating in space of her empty mind. No, not empty, she corrected herself, Smothered. Not that it made a difference.

Why had she remembered him, of all things? Perhaps it was because of the feelings associated with him. Happiness. Warmth. Joy. And another feeling that she couldn't place. All were powerful.

Wait a minute, she gasped, Powerful. More powerful than the virus!

She frowned in concentration. She had to compile everything into one. Picturing Kai, she put everything she had left into him. The emotions. The quirks. Everything she could produce went behind the memory. As the virus drew near, she strained her mind, struggling to hold her creation against the black smudge. It wrapped around it, squeezing tighter and tighter Come on, hold, Lindsey begged. She watched as Kai began to grow dim.

He started to glow.

Brighter and brighter, until she couldn't look anymore. Both Kai and the virus shone with a brilliant golden light. Then they both exploded, showering glittering sparks every which way.

Opening her mental eyes, she watched in pure relief as color and light began to fill her mind once again. Everything started to be uncovered. Free, she realized in delight, I'm free!

The virus was gone, overpowered. It was as if an enormous black blanket was lifted up off of her mind. She heard something that sounded like shattering glass. A moment later, her mind shot back to her body, and she gasped for air.

She was alive.