Sorry for the long wait! I had exams and a bunch of end of the year projects to finish so it took me a while to get to this. It was still hard writing this after I was done half of it. There's some things in this story that I'll have to introduce to you earlier than expected, and some things will have to be removed entirely because it'll be hard to add them (no ideas on how to do some things). I think I hinted on a couple things some chapters ago, but I might have to abandon those ideas because it's getting hard to write this.

Anyways, hope you like it!

Chapter 38: Two Steps Forward

"So, what is our next course of action?" Zane asked in the bridge where everyone had gathered. They had called for a meeting to decide where they would go next, if anywhere at all.

"Can we…go to my house?" Reyna asked hopefully. Everyone turned towards her.

Nya nodded. "Sure. It's a good idea to meet your parents and your brother again before we get to the final battle."

Misako nodded. "Yes, it would be. We should head there now."

"But what about Astra's parents?" Zane objected. He didn't want the yellow kunoichi to be left out in what were her last days. She had to see them once again.

"Maybe…we can go there after? If there's enough time, of course," Kai suggested.

Zane shot him a look that actually scared the red ninja. The white ninja was glaring for once.

"We can go there first, can't we?!" Jay blurted out to save his best friend, Kai. The fire ninja looked grateful to him because Zane took his glare off and turned to Jay with his normal face, a bit softer than a moment ago, if anything.

Wu nodded. "Yes, we should go to Astra's house first. She would want to meet them, and as would they."

"Is that fine with you?" Cole turned to Reyna. The teal kunoichi nodded immediately. As much as she wanted to see her family, she knew that Astra seeing hers first was more important.

"Alrighty, we'll head to Merriden, Astra's town first!" Nya happily told everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement as always.

Lloyd went to their living room to play some games. He was in the midst of one when Garmadon, his dad, came in. "Hi, Lloyd," he said.

Lloyd turned around and noticed his dad there, and instantly turned sour. "Hi," he said with little happiness or excitement. He went back to the game.

Garmadon noticed that the game was distracting Lloyd from being closer to him. He knew Lloyd was still angry, but he sought to change that if Misako couldn't herself. He had to make a bold move. He walked in front of the TV and turned it off.

"Hey! What gives?!" Lloyd shouted in anger.

"I know you didn't want me to turn this off, but I think we should talk a bit," Garmadon replied calmly.

Lloyd gave a frown and scowl and turned away from Garmadon. Garmadon then walked in front of the green ninja, but Lloyd turned away again. "Lloyd, you can't stay angry forever. You will accept us. I know it."

"Tough luck," Lloyd grunted. "You don't know what it feels like, do you? You left before I was even born. Then mom left without telling me what for. How do you expect me to react?"

"I know you would be angry, Lloyd, but I didn't think you'd take so long to become calm and happy again."

"I didn't have a dad or a mom for so long," he said. "I had no idea where you were until you came back, but not for long. And then you left again. And then it turned out I had to fight you."

"And now I am right here, by your side," Garmadon told him lightly. "I can't understand why if you wanted us to be with you, why are you angry now, when we are with you?"

"Because you weren't there when I needed you most!" he said defiantly. "Now I have uncle Wu, the ninja, and the kunoichi to ask help for if I need it. But a few years ago? Who could I rely on then? Nobody!"

Garmadon gritted his teeth. Lloyd was telling the truth. His son had no one to rely on for so many years. "But that is over now. You do have people to talk to as much as you want now!"

Lloyd seemed to soften his gaze. "You're right, but…living without parents for so long just felt so weird…it feels even weirder now that they're living in the same place as me."

Garmadon smiled, glad that Lloyd was finally opening up to them.

"Don't think I'm not mad though!" Lloyd said fiercely. "I may be opening up more, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven both of you."

Garmadon sat down on the floor and leaned against the TV. "Alright then, Lloyd. I will make sure you do that before the final battle."

"You can try."

Astra was insisting to Zane that she try training a bit, even if it was for a few minutes. She felt exhausted, but she was determined not to look bad in front of her family a couple hours later. "I need to! I haven't trained in so long!"

"But Astra, if you're not feeling well enough, how do you expect to do that?" Zane protested to her.

She toughened up. "I have to. I made a promise to myself I would help you guys however I can. So I have to."

Zane was reluctant to let her, but if that's what she wanted, then he wouldn't stop her. "If you think it's a good idea, then I will be supporting you."

Astra smiled gratefully to the white ninja. "Thanks, Zane. I can always count on you." The nindroid returned the smile.

So for as long as she could, Astra attempted the training course. She had never mastered it, but she knew how to do most of it, and from memory, she was able to complete just as much as she had before she stopped training.

Sensei Wu, Lloyd, and Zoe came out a bit after and were surprised to see Astra attempting the course. Wu was taken aback. "Good job, Astra. I am glad to know you can still do much of it."

Lloyd nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you'll learn Spinjitzu in no time if you keep this up!"

Astra beamed as she listened to them. "Thanks, but I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…"

There was a silence on the deck, and only the wind could be heard as the Bounty flew through the sky. "Don't worry, Astra, everything will be alright," Zoe said with a smile, although on the inside, she wasn't sure that would hold out much longer. Zoe wasn't even close to learning how she could heal people fully, so how could she say such a thing?

Astra continued using the course, so Sensei Wu decided it would be best for Zoe to practice her powers along with Lloyd. Lloyd was very well prepared with element, creation, but knowing even a glimpse of Lucas' power, he would have to become stronger as well to be ready to face off against him. There was still one option for the ninja and kunoichi, but Wu was going to hold off on that for now until the time was right…

That other option began bugging him. He would have to tell them sooner or later. He was making his decision when a bright burst of energy snapped him out of his thoughts. It was a ball of energy created by Lloyd.

Zoe tried making beams or balls of energy like Lloyd could, but it was tough, so Lloyd began helping her. "Lloyd, allow me to help her. You should focus on yourself right now."

His nephew looked at him indignantly. "Fine," he grumbled and went back to practicing. Now, Wu went to instruct the pink kunoichi.

"Draw out any power you can, and focus it into something of your liking," he suggested to her. "And there are also physical restrictions to this: you must keep your arms and body straight. That is the key to doing what you are trying to do."

Meanwhile, Astra kept pushing herself, but she was exhausted and could no longer try to do it. She sat down on the deck, breathing heavily and taking deep breaths to be less tired. A few moments later, she got back up and tried using her element, light. She brought out her Blade, Rayseeker, and called on its power, but nothing would happen. She tried again, but to the same result.

Wu turned around and noticed the frustrated kunoichi of light. "Astra, for you to use your elemental Blade, you must be powerful enough to call on its power. Do you remember that?"

Astra looked at him, and then looked down in sadness. "I'm weak, aren't I?"

Zane looked a bit edgy to his Sensei. "But Sensei, don't you remember when Brisa called on the power of her Blade in the cave? She had no training then."

Wu thought back. "Yes, maybe 'powerful' was not the right word. Perhaps having more energy would be a better explanation. Take a break, Astra, and you may be able to use your Blade's power."

"But it'll drain my energy again…" the kunoichi looked sad.

"Yes, but energy does came back," Zane reminded her, as if she needed reminding about that. Astra nodded, and sat back down. It took a bit of time, but she stood back up and used her Blade's powers again. This time, a beam of light shot out and went far into the distance and couldn't even be seen a split second later.

"Good job, Astra!" Lloyd said as he turned around just in time to see Astra use Rayseeker's powers. He had heard her get up, and wondered if she was about to use her Blade.

Not long after, they had reached Merriden, Astra's town. They went to her house and knocked on the door, and her dad opened it. "Oh, Astra! You're back! But we didn't hear any news about anything bad happening besides what happened in Edgeham. No other big fights or anything. Is it really all over?"

"Dad, dad, we'll explain when we get in," his daughter replied with slight annoyance because he didn't let her talk at all. "We have more guests this time, as you may see."

Astra was right. There were faces her dad didn't see before, like Brisa, Zoe, Misako, and Garmadon, but they were all introduced to him. Astra's mom also came shortly after she was informed that Astra was here; she had gone shopping.

"So, what was that part about explaining?" Mr. Nikola, Astra's father, asked.

Sensei Wu nodded. "Yes, so, our journey is not yet done. We have not yet had the final battle that we all dread because neither we nor our enemies are defeated."

"In fact, we've actually lost to them more than we've beat them," Kai boasted, acting like it was something cool, when in fact, it makes other think they're weak. To stop her brother from speaking anymore, she gave him a quick punch on the shoulder which made him glare at her. Nya just smiled back at him.

Wu nodded. "As much as we hate it, Kai is right: we have lost more than we won. All the times we have met, they could've easily finished us all, but they didn't."

"It's likely they are just playing around with us right now, and they'll have real fun beating us in the final battle," Misako added on.

"Well, I don't necessarily agree that they'll beat you guys," Mr. Nikola said with a smile. "You guys are tough, aren't you?"

Jay chuckled. "Sure, but we need to be a lot stronger than now to send them packing."

"Hello everyone!" Mrs. Nikola said as she walked through the front door. "Wow, more guests this time, I see."

"Hi, mom!" Astra said happily when she saw her. "Long time!" She ran up and gave her a hug like a little kid. Her mother hugged her back.

"So, what brings you all here today?" she asked with a cheerful smile. "It's a nice day, much better than the last time. No sandstorm." She chuckled at her own words.

"We just…came to visit," Astra informed her. "We don't really need a reason, do we?"

"No, of course not," her dad answered. "You can come anytime you like."

Mrs. Nikola noticed the people she hadn't seen the last time around, and they all gave a quick introduction of their names.

Everyone, including Astra, knew that they wouldn't able to keep the latest bad news from Astra's parents for long. They would have to find out about the problem – and their only solution – sooner or later. Eventually, they would ask about it anyways.

"So, how's it going with you, Astra?" her mom asked her. The yellow kunoichi bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

"Yes, about that…" Garmadon started.

"Astra has an Elemental Blade now," Wu cut his brother off. "It is a sword, a sword of Light. It comes with the name Rayseeker, and her Blade did a health check of Astra. It told her that she only had a couple of weeks left."

Silence filled the house as everybody became speechless. Nobody wanted to talk.

Uh oh, they had to tell Astra's parents about her situation! Responses would be predictable. I'm sure a lot of us would have similar reactions to something like that. Anyways, hope you liked it (wasn't that good in my opinion...)!