Phew, nearly forgot today. It's been a weird week.

LightWolf - It's always good to read your reviews. Yeah, I knew I needed Kai to flip someone else at some point, it just seems like something he'd do. And having a character finally be able to talk does help their personality, huh? I'm glad you liked Jiro!

ABCSKW123-IX - I've always loved Cole and Zane's relationship in the show. Before they had Cole and Jay become close, Cole and Zane were two of the closest ninja, besides Kai and Lloyd. I feel bad about what I'm doing to Lloyd. He deserves it not at all. I don't think Nya is capable of giving up on Lloyd. Even if it makes no sense. I'm glad you liked the way Jiro goes out.

ninjagolover4life - I'm glad you like it! More is coming!

Xavier hugged his knees to his chest. Night was falling and there was no sign of the others' return. He took a deep breath.

"In," He thought. "And out."

The focus on his breathing was the only thing keeping him from having a break down.

Not only was he alone, but everyone was gone on a dangerous rescue mission. It didn't help that Nya, Jay and Zane had left before he was awake. It was probably so he wouldn't follow them. Then Pixal, Dareth, and Jiro decided that they needed to help, leaving Xavier alone.

The Falcon swooped over his head and gave its shrill call. Xavier looked up at it and peered into the distance. Was that a flash of color?

Xavier's chest was tight with excitement and fear as the dragons came into view. They were followed by Pixal's new mech. It wasn't long before the dragons landed heavily before him. Xavier made a quick headcount of the shadowy figures he couldn't quite identify in the darkness. Seven, not including Pixal.

Xavier frowned. Even if everyone had come home, it should have been one less.

"Xavier." Zane's voice said.

He stepped into the light cast from the open base door. The others were helping each other down. Zane enfolded Xavier into a hug.

"We got Cole back." He muttered into Xavier's ears. "But we lost Jiro."

Xavier tightened his grip on Zane. Not Jiro. Why did they keep losing people?

Zane went limp and nearly knocked Xavier over. Panic rose like bile until he realized Pixal stood behind Zane.

"I am sorry." Pixal told Xavier. "I need to check if he was injured."

She eased Zane off of Xavier. Xavier was trying very hard not to cry. It was hard.

It got even harder when Jay helped Nya into the light. Nya was clutching her red soaked side.

"Hey kid."Jay said.

He was pale but Nya was paler.

"Follow me." Jay called behind him. "Dareth, can you give Pixal a hand?"

Dareth rushed forward to Pixal. Xavier looked at the last three shadows. Two were supporting the third. They moved to follow Jay and stepped into the light.

The old man on one side was only sort of familiar to Xavier. He immediately knew the person on the other side: the fourth and final elemental master, Fire. He intentionally avoided Fire's eyes. Xavier mostly cared about the middle figure right then.

Cole looked barely awake. He was covered in painful looking red patches. And he was missing an arm. Xavier swallowed the lump in his throat.

Cole lifted his head. His tired eyes found Xavier and he smiled a tiny smile.

"Hey, Xay." He said.

Xavier burst into tears.

Cole was home.

The infirmary was dark, though Nya could still make out the other patients. She kept switching from looking from Kai to Cole. They were asleep. Cole had passed out nearly the second they had put him in the bed. Kai had taken a while longer, though he hadn't spoken to anyone while he was awake.

Nya shifted in her own bed. She was careful of her stitching. It had taken a while to get them in. That time also included Nya yelling Jay and Xavier back to their rooms.

"It's Nya, isn't it?" A voice said.

Nya jumped, but then forced herself to be still. She had forgotten about the old man.

She looked over at him. The doctors had insisted he stay under observation despite having no visible injuries. She was sure she'd never seen his face but there was something familiar about him. His voice stirred memories.

"Garmadon?"

The old man chuckled.

"It's good to see one of you is as sharp as I remembered."

Nya couldn't stop her jaw from dropping. Garmadon. Lord Garmadon. The one they'd been fighting before, Lloyd's father, somehow reduced to a tired old man.

"What happened?" She whispered.

Another laugh, though this one was bitter.

"When the Overlord took my son, he needed every ounce of darkness in my body to overcome him. So he took it and left me as I was before the Devourer." He said in a dull voice.

Nya let it sit.

"You're not evil anymore?" She asked.

It was a stupid question. He had been the Fallen's prisoner and Kai and Cole seemed to trust him.

"No Nya, I am not evil." He said.

There was a hint of a smile in his voice.

There was another pause.

"My brother is dead?" Garmadon asked.

Nya immediately thought of the last time she had seen Wu. He had hugged her. Wu never hugged anyone. Despite her anger at the master, a lump formed in her throat.

"Yes." Nya said. "He-"

She was grateful that Garmadon cut her off.

"I know what magic he used." He said. "Perhaps I even know why."

"Do you know what happened to Misako?" Nya said. "Wu said he lost track of her right after the Overlord won."

Garmadon didn't respond right away.

"She's gone. It was Lloyd-" He said. "The Overlord-"

His voice broke. Nya was stunned with horror. Lloyd had been forced to kill his own mother.

Cole cried out softly. Nya moved to leave her bed but fell back with a hiss of pain. To her surprise Garmadon got out of his bed and went to the master of earth.

"He's still asleep. A nightmare, I believe." Garmadon said. "It's not surprising."

A nurse bustled into the room.

"Sir, please return to your bed." He scolded.

"Yes, yes." Garmadon grumbled. "I was just checking on my student."

Nya raised her eyebrows at the term.

"Student?" She repeated out loud when the nurse had gone.

Garmadon shifted in his bed.

"Well, yes." He said. "Before I, er, turned, our father always encouraged us to become teachers. I obviously couldn't and I suppose some part of my mind considered my brother's students as my own."

He cleared his throat as he continued.

"In any case when I saw Cole and Kai my first thought was that they were my students."

Nya was touched. She had always known there was good in Garmadon but she'd never realized he had anything but negative feelings towards herself and the ninja.

"Will Cole be all right?" She asked him.

"I don't know." Garmadon said. "He has gone through an incredible amount of pain."

"What happened to them?" Nya asked.

Garmadon began to explain the routine of their imprisonment. As he described the daily torture Nya began to think that it would be a miracle if Cole was even close to all right ever again.

"Are we able to visit now?"

Nya woke up to Zane's mild voice in the other room. She sat up and stretched. She gasped as the motion caused her side to throb. Kai and Garmadon were blinking sleepily. Cole was sitting up and staring at the door.

The nurses must have answered in the affirmative because Zane, Jay, and Xavier crowded in a second later. Xavier immediately hurried to Cole and climbed up onto his bed. The little boy threw his arms around Cole and didn't let go.

"Hey buddy." Cole said.

He put his hand on Xavier's back.

Zane moved to the side of Cole's bed. His eyes were glistening.

Jay on the other hand had approached Nya.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Sore," she responded. "But I'll live."

He gave a nervous grin. His eyes flicked to Garmadon with a question.

"This is Garmadon." Nya said.

Zane looked over.

"He's-" Nya stopped.

What exactly was she supposed to introduce him as?

"He's the Fallen's dad." Kai cut in.

Nya's brother was looking at the rest with an odd expression. Was that jealousy?

"His dad." Jay repeated. "And we just let him in?"

Kai rolled his eyes.

"Course we did." He said. "He was a prisoner too."

"But-" Jay started.

"He's a good guy, okay?" Kai snapped.

"Kai." Garmadon chided. "It's all right. They're right to be suspicious."

Kai harrumphed and folded his arms.

"I am not suspicious." Zane said. "What Kai said is true. If you were our enemy you would not have been a prisoner."

Garmadon smiled gratefully.

Nya looked around the room. There was Jay, Kai, Cole, and Zane. They were all back. They were here. Not dead, not sleeping. Here. She felt for the first time in a long time a weight lifted off her shoulders.

She didn't even try to stop tears from running down her face. A hand took hers. She wiped her eyes and looked up to a furiously blushing Jay.

"You okay?" He asked.

She realized everyone was looking at her.

"Sorry. It's just that it's been a while since we've all been together." She said with a sniffle.

Zane smiled at her. He at least knew to an extent how it felt to have them all back.

But he had no idea of the pain of the missing piece.

Kai meanwhile had started identifying everyone in the room.

"So I know you're Zane." He said with a jerk of the head to the ice master.

Zane nodded.

"She's Nya." He went on.

Nya gave him a watery smile. It was odd to see her brother look at her with such little affection.

"And that's Jay, the new guy." Kai gestured to Jay.

Jay scoffed.

"Who's the new guy?" He said.

Kai smirked.

"I've been around a lot longer than you kid."

"Who're you calling kid?" Jay snapped.

Kai rolled his eyes and turned to Xavier who shyly looked down.

"And that's the kid, Xavier." He finished.

Xavier sat up on Cole and turned to Zane. He signed, but Nya couldn't see what he was saying.

"It is spelled K-A-I." Zane said.

Xavier signed a stream of words.

"I will tell him." Zane said, but his brow was furrowed. "Kai, Xavier says that he is- sorry for what he is about to do."

"The heck does that-" Kai started.

Xavier turned and looked into Kai's eyes. Kai's eyes widened and he cursed under his breath. Nya blinked. Hadn't something like this happened when Xavier met Jay?

Jay gave a crooked grin.

"So you really are one of us." He said.

Xavier began signing again.

"He says he is also sorry for the dream you will have tonight."

Zane peered at Xavier.

"So you are the source of those odd dreams." He said.

Xavier shrugged. Kai looked nervous.

"I've had a few weird dreams when I was by myself." He said.

"We have all had them." Zane said.

"How long were you by yourself?" Nya asked Kai. "Who woke you up?"

"Dunno. Two or three months. Maybe more." Kai said with a shrug. "No one was ever with me so I don't know who woke me up."

Xavier was signing.

"But how-" Zane started.

Xavier made a sharp movement with his hands.

"Xavier claims that he woke Kai right before he woke me." Zane said. "But I cannot see how this could be."

Nya shared a confused look with Jay but waited for Xavier to continue.

"He says 'A bad thing had happened and I was scared.'" Zane translated. "'I couldn't scream out loud so I screamed in my head. Then something broke and I could feel something warm in my chest. It was very far away and I didn't notice it until later. I was still too scared. I didn't know it was Kai until after I woke up Zane."

It was quiet in the room after Zane finished interpreting for Xavier. Kai in particular looked disturbed.

"I heard screaming when I woke up. In my head." He whispered. "That was you."

They were interrupted by a doctor poking her head in.

"That's enough visiting." She said. "Out, all of you."

Zane patted Cole on the shoulder as he left. Cole barely responded. Jay squeezed Nya's hand before following Zane.

"See you!" He called behind him.

Xavier hugged Cole again before slipping off the bed. Cole stared at the boy with a blank expression.

"Xavier." Nya said.

The boy paused by her bed.

"What was the bad thing that happened?" Nya asked.

Xavier closed his eyes and bowed his head. His signs were small and hesitant.

"My mommy was gone."

The doctors allowed three fourths of the patients to leave that afternoon.

"Good!" Kai exclaimed at the news. "I want to get started training against you guys."

The nurses and doctors exchanged looks.

"Sir, you shouldn't-" one started.

"I feel fine!" Kai asserted. "Nothing wrong with me! Right, Cole?"

"Huh?" Cole said. "Yeah. Right."

Nya frowned at Cole's lackluster response. She wished she was free to go as well but her side wound required bedrest.

"Can someone find-" Nya stopped herself before she could say Jiro's name.

His death was still fresh but at first her joy that the others had been recovered had overshadowed it. The guilt over that had been twisting her stomach. She missed his steady presence and effect on their base.

"Dareth." She finally finished. "He can help these three get situated."

A nurse hurried out. Garmadon approached Nya.

"Nya." He said quietly. "I would like to apologize to you."

"For what?" Nya asked.

"For what I did to you on the Dark Island."

Nya winced as she remembered the corruption Lord Garmadon had forced her through.

"It wasn't your fault." She said.

He shook his head.

"Whether or not I was responsible does not erase my guilt."

Nya touched his shoulder.

"I forgive you." She said.

Garmadon gave her a grateful smile and took her hand.

"Thank you my dear."

His eyes were tired and worn. They were so much like his brother's eyes now.

"Can I count on your help?" Nya asked.

He nodded.

"For better or for worse, I will help you stop my son."

The dream came that night.

The ones in red and green are alone. The others had sacrificed themselves one by one, each falling to darkness. They are close to their destination. Suddenly, the one in red's sister is there. Her skin is grey and her eyes are a sickly purple. She prepares another shot of darkness. The one in red pushes the one in green ahead.

"Go!" He yells.

His companion stumbles forward on an injured leg.

The one in red turns to face his sister.

"I'm sorry." He tells her before leading her away from the one in green.

The one in green is alone.

A bit of backstory of Xavier. My concept is that Xavier's trauma caused him to mentally reach out, and Kai, who was the closest to Lloyd and his lead protector(as well as being the most emotional), reacted by forcing himself awake. And yeah, Lloyd killed Misako. I'm a terrible person. (but she kinda deserved it. He didn't, but she did)

Wear your masks, remember to review, and have a great week!