You know, every time I talk to my mom about this fic she wants to know if I've killed myself off yet

Review replies:

Spottedfrost: I told my mom about this review and she thought it was hilarious

The Mayor of Ninjago City: *french pea voice* Straight down!

Ebony: No but I'm so glad someone overthought this because no one else got it

Candaru: "LISTEN TO LYDIA AND LET THE NINJA ADOPT YOU" Yeah morro smh

Kitkat: Yep, I can swim. Unfortunately it's hard to swim with a building on top of you.

NinjagoMLP: Lloyd? Lloyd is fine. HE doesn't have a building on top of him.

Lydia woke up to darkness and a pounding headache.

She tried to lift her head, but something was pressing down on her, over her entire body. She struggled, but it was too heavy for her to move. As she struggled, she became aware of a dull pain in her ankle. It was otherwise numb. That wasn't a good thing.

"What happened?" she mumbled aloud. "Where the heck…" Her voice was bouncing back to her very quickly. She must be in a tight… enclosed… space… Abruptly, she remembered what had happened – the ninja running upstairs after Morro, Cole staying with her to protect her, the fighting below her, then the building randomly collapsing. That was the last thing she remembered, so that meant she was… buried alive.

"Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't even think about freaking out." She said aloud, immediately, as she tried to hold down hysteria. "Freaking out won't help a thing. Stay calm. Someone will come for you." Unless they couldn't find her or they had all gotten killed when the building collapsed or they just didn't hecking care about her or-

"They're coming for you." She said, louder. "They won't leave you here. They're the good guys, the only one who would leave you down here is Kai, and he's warming up to you." She laughed nervously. "Oh, who am I kidding. I'm going to freak out." She hadn't been trapped like this since she was a little kid, and she doubted she would handle it any better now. She was already on the verge of tears, and screaming and kicking wouldn't even help in this situation, no one could hear her, and she would only hurt her already-injured leg worse. Unfortunately, rational thought did not keep her from succumbing to panic and bursting into tears three seconds later.

"HELP!" She screamed, wondering how tightly packed the wreckage was. Could anyone hear her? "HELP ME!" No reply. She started to sob, trying to keep herself from struggling. She'd only hurt herself more. "SOMEONE, H-HELP!" Silence. She could faintly hear the splashing of waves, far below her, but nothing else. Not for… maybe ten minutes. Then a hand grabbed hers, and a muffled voice called,

"Lydia!" Her eyes shot open, but she couldn't see her hand to see who was gabbing it. "Lydia! Can you hear me?"

"Y-yeah?" She stammered. "Wh-who-"

"It's Morro." He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. "I'm going to get you out, okay? Just give me a couple minutes." He let go of her hand, then he was gone. Eyes wide, Lydia waited in the darkness, trying to focus on something other than 'why isn't this over yet why isn't this over yet why isn't this over yet' on a loop. Finally, she heard voices, and the pressure on her lessened. As they got clearer, a new voice joined the mix – Cole. He had been next to her when the building collapsed, he must have been buried too.

Finally, the pressure lifted, and blinding light shone down on her. She squeezed her eyes shut as the ninja and Morro continued to free her, unable to focus on their conversation. Finally, cool hands took her by the arms and pulled her out of the hole, pulling her into a hug, and she hugged them back, burying her face in their shoulder and crying. It was Morro, she noted after a moment. No heartbeat.

After a few moments of being curled up in a ball while Morro hugged her, Lydia finally tuned in on the conversation happening behind her, which seemed to be the ninja fussing over Cole. He had apparently been buried just a couple feet above her. Had he heard her screaming? She hadn't heard a response, so… probably not.

Additionally, the ninja seemed to be leaving her and Morro alone. They must have teamed up to strive towards a common goal – getting her and Cole out of the wreckage. How the heck did that happen? Morro and the ninja's fight destabilized the building? She knew it wasn't safe. Wait… she didn't hear Lloyd. Where was he?

"W-where's Lloyd?" She whispered into Morro's shoulder. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine." The ghost replied quietly. "I dragged him out of the way before the building collapsed." Really? Morro didn't even like Lloyd. But she wasn't complaining. "Are you hurt?"

"Uhhh… something's wrong with my leg."

"Wrong? How?"

"Like… numb. But hurting."

"It might be broken. Your ankle looks twisted out of place." Lydia let out a shuddering sigh.

"Aw heck. I was just looking forward to being able to walk again." Morro chuckled a bit.

"It might be a while now." Lydia opened her eyes to stared through his transparent shoulder, noting the pile of wreckage they were sitting on.

"You're like stained glass." She mumbled into his shoulder. "You're solid, but I can still see though you." Morro didn't answer for a moment.

"That's… and interesting comparison, but… kinda sweet?"

"I'm high on adrenaline. Please don't take anything I say seriously." Morro chuckled, shifting to pull her closer. Lydia rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "Was anyone else hurt?" She mumbled. "What happened?"

"Kai… accidently set fire to a support beam. Apparently it was rotted through, as it crumbled within the minute, and the rest of the building came with it."

"It was an accident." Kai interjected loudly. "And I wouldn't have had to set the beam on fire if you had just surrendered like we told you to."

"You know I can't do that, Kai."

"Boys, cut it out." Nya interrupted. "We have an agreement, Kai, don't forget it." Her brother huffed.

"Fine."

"A-agreement?" Lydia lifted her head, twisting around to look at the ninja. The group knelt on the uneven pile of wreckage, Cole sitting up with his leg stretched out in front of him as he leaned on Zane's shoulder. His face was tense. "Cole! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He gave her a pained smile. "My knee just got hit pretty badly. I think it's just bruised, not broken. What about your ankle? It looks turned funny." Lydia's gaze slowly moved down to her ankle, then she immediately looked away. It did look turned funny

"M-Morro says it's maybe broken. It feels numb. What agreement did you make?" She rephrased her earlier question?

"We agreed that if Morro helped get you and Cole out, we would leave him be for now." Nya exclaimed. "He can pass through the wreckage, we probably wouldn't have found you in time, if at all, without him." Lydia shuddered.

"Oh."

"You should let me look at that ankle." Zane spoke up. "I may be able to reset it." Lydia flinched. She'd never had a bone reset, but she'd read enough fanfiction to know that it was painful.

…aaaand that was one thing she was never saying out loud.

"Okay, but can we get to more solid ground first?" Zane nodded.

"Good idea." Morro put an arm under her knees and scooped her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he stood and began to pick his way down the side of the pile. The ninja followed, Cole being supported between Kai and Zane. Slowly, the group made their way down to where Lloyd was waiting, having pushed himself up against a post. He huddled up a bit as Morro approached, but his posture relaxed when he caught sight of Lydia.

"What happened?" He called once they were within earshot. "I pass out, and when I wake up… Ronin's shop fell down?"

"It was really weak already," Lydia called back. "And during Morro's fight with the ninja it was destabilized, and it collapsed. Cole and I got caught in it."

"Actually, the ninja were too." Morro added. "Zane froze the portion above them so they wouldn't be crushed." Lloyd frowned.

"Oh. But the last thing I remember is you holding a knife to my throat… inside. How did I get here?" Lydia's head whipped around to look at Morro, who ignored her.

"I dragged you out when the building began to collapse." The blond blinked.

"You… you did?"

"Yes."

"Why? You hate me."

"I'm honestly not sure. Protective instincts, I suppose."

"Hmm." The rest of the ninja made it to the bottom of the pile, and Zane passed Cole off to Jay, beckoning Morro over to a clear part of the bridge.

"Set her down gently." The nindroid instructed as Morro obeyed, and the ghost sat down with her, turning her around so she faced Zane. Leaning back against Morro, she stretched her injured leg out in front of her, and Zane sat down across from her so he could begin poking and prodding at her ankle. It hurt, but not enough to warrant a reaction. Instead, she turned to look at Cole, who was being lowered down next to Lloyd. As she watched, Lloyd leaned over and hugged him tight, and she felt a pang of guilt. It was her fault he hadn't seen his friends in so long.

Suddenly, sharp pain shot up her leg, and she let out a cry, jerking back to look at Zane. The nindroid gave her apologetic look, unwinding the bandage around her ankle.

"Your ankle is broken." He reported. "But not badly. If we can get you to a hospital, they can put a cast on it for you."

"Gross. I don't want to go to a hospital." Lydia made a face. "I'll just not walk on it until it heals."

"That's likely." Morro deadpanned.

"Why? What's that look for?" She twisted around to glare at him. He just rolled his eyes.

"Please hold still." Zane urged her. "I can make a crude splint. It will not be as good as a professional cast, though."

"I'm not going to a hospital." She turned back to Zane. "Do the best you can."

"Alright." The nindroid shook his head, but got to work. Using some fabric torn off her already-ripped pant leg, some pieces of wood from the wreckage, and the bandage Morro had gotten for her ankle, Zane managed to make her a surprisingly-sturdy splint.

"Do not walk on it." He said sternly once it was secured. "Or you will be going to the hospital, whether you like it or not."

"Okay." She nodded meekly, pulling her leg back a bit.

"Now we can discuss whether or not we're going to let you leave." Kai sounded aggressive, and Lydia twisted around to see him standing a couple feet behind them, arms crossed.

"I saved your friends' lives." Morro said quietly. "You owe me."

"He's right, Kai." Nya cut in. "Leave him alone."

"Really? We're just going to let him go, to summon the Preeminent and curse Ninjago?"

"I don't have the Realm Crystal." The ghost snapped. "I lost it in the collapse. If you want it, it's somewhere in there." He gestured to the pile of wreckage. "Just let me be." The ninja exchanged surprised looks, and Lydia looked at the wreckage in shock. The Realm Crystal was… gone?

"Well, I suppose we'll let you go for now. But you better not even think of taking Lydia or Lloyd with you." Lloyd's eyes widened, and he huddled closer to Cole.

"As far as Lloyd, I wouldn't dream of it." Morro assured them. "Lydia, however… I think she'll come with me voluntarily." Lydia blinked. Would she? She had kinda… assumed she'd stay with him a while longer. But she also expected to be 'rescued' eventually.

"She will not!" Kai protested. "Will you?"

"Uhh-" Lydia started, but Nya cut her off.

"Kai, come here." Her brother obeyed, and she whispered something in his ear. He frowned, but calmed a bit.

"Alright, fine. Go. Girls are so weird." He muttered under his breath. "But if we encounter you again on unfriendly terms, we will show no mercy."

"I'll keep that in mind." Putting arm under Lydia's knees again, Morro stood, carrying her away from them and summoning his dragon. Carefully, he set her in the saddle before climbing on in front of her, and she wrapped her arms around him as he took off. As they flew off, Lydia caught a glimpse of what looked like hurt on Lloyd's face. Sorry Lloyd. She still had a job to do.

So that kinda throws everything out of whack.

~FFF