For some strange reason, Wu had been lurking in the shadows all day yesterday. He was usually hanging around, but this seemed almost paranoid. He tried to hide, but since he was the only other in the room Nya knew he was there almost all the time.

After all his watching from a distance, Nya nearly jumped out of her skin when he actually approached her. "Are you up for another session with… Jenifer?"

Well, she wondered, why not? "Sure, I guess."

*Healing*

Another session, and Nya foolishly chose another game of chess.

Nya was determined to defeat Jen. Today was the day.

So, of course, she spent five minutes contemplating her first move. Eventually, her knight came out from behind the line of pawns.

"How was your week?"

"It was alright. The worst part had to be when Master Wu took almost all of us to some 'group therapy' thing. It was really awkward and we all kinda hated it."

"Well, I'm sorry you didn't like that session, but it sounds like a very good move on your teacher's part. If you're all struggling it would help all of you to lean on one another."

That sounded… reasonable. "I wish I'd said something. PIXAL did, but she was the only one. What would I have even said?" That last part was most definitely not planned, but slipped out anyway.

"Whatever you wanted. Next time, if you want to say something, maybe start with a personal story - something that feels significant - and elaborate with your feelings about it."

Subconsciously, Nya scrunched her face, leaning backwards slightly. "I don't think that would work." It wasn't her exact reason, but the words for how she really felt about it lay just out of reach.

Jen shrugged, moving a rook into a seemingly innocent position. "At least trying would probably help, and you could always rehearse it with me - or someone else - ahead of time." She paused, scanning the chessboard. "Check."

Nya stared: the Rook's place was clear, but moving it out left a path for the black queen to go straight for her king. Cautiously, she ducked her king behind a pawn. "What kind of story would I even tell?"

"Anything pressing on your mind. Especially stuff from your past, if it's bothering you it's best to try and get it out somehow."

That sounded like a really bad idea for some reason. "My friends already know all my stories, they were there."

"That doesn't mean they know your perspective." Once again, her usual smile. "Checkmate."

Sure enough, any move Nya could make would result in her king getting captured, despite the fact the only pieces she had lost were 3 pawns and a bishop. "Let's go back to Uno." She grumbled, slumping back into the couch.

"You're giving up?" She seemed genuinely surprised at this. "You've been improving so much."

"I'm not quitting, I'm just taking a break!" The words seemed familiar as they flooded from her mouth.

Pulling out the cards, Jen neatly swept away the chess board. "Good, know your limits. But don't forget to push them."

"There you are!" Wu's voice sounded surprised, but there was something else… relief?

"Are you dragging us all to another group session?" Disgust filled his usually flat voice, and he sent another blow towards the training dummy.

"No." His wince flowed into his voice, even with his back turned Cole knew Master Wu had cringed. "Just to see… Kirby."

He sighed. "Fine, but we are not walking today."

*Healing*

"Hey Kirby."

"Cole… another bad day?" His eyes narrowed, this was the second time in a row.

"More like week. Now can I get away from this guy?" Cole gestured a thumb in Wu's direction.

"Of course." Kirby sent Wu a questioning glance.

Before Cole even sat down he reached onto the shelf and pulled out Suspend. Apparently really bad week, if he was going straight for the games.

"What happened?" Being sane, Kirby had waited until after the game had started to ask the question.

"Wu took us to some sort of therapy, but we were all together. It was awkward, Kai was a jerk, and I hated it."

He nodded sympathetically, placing an orange stick onto their little tower. "How did the others feel about it?"

Cole shifted, stuttering for words. "Well- I- I don't know. I wasn't- not paying much attention… to them." He glanced down in shame.

"Do you care about their feelings?"

"Of course I do!" His hands had balled into fists. "What kind of brother would I be if I didn't?! I-"

Kirby cut him off with a hand. "While it's good to be aware of one's own feelings - and I'm not saying you should forfeit your own emotions - sometimes it's best to step away and take care of others before you start wallowing in self-pity. Focusing on others - friends, family members, or even random strangers who could use some help - can do wonders for the individual."

"O-okay." While he had relaxed a bit, his fists were still clenched. "That makes sense."

He chuckled. "I believe it's your turn." Cole jumped, but fully relaxed a moment later as he reached for the colorful die.

Cole certainly was not ready to start talking about his past yet…

But everything has its time.

"It's good to see you dry." Sarai joked as Kai slouched into her office.

"That was the worst hour of my life." Kai muttered, shooting a fresh glare in his mentor's direction.

"When you were wet?" She highly doubted that.

"No, Master Wu signed us up for group therapy. It was the worst."

Sarai decided not to mention that sparks were flying from his clenched fists. "'Us', as in, your entire group?" She beckoned him into the office, pulling out Jenga in hopes of quenching Kai's aggression.

"Yeah, and all we did was stare at each other while this crazy lady kept telling us to talk about our feelings and stuff."

"Did anyone say anything?"

Kai hesitated until the tower was fully constructed, carefully removing a block before answering. "Only PIXAL, and she only spoke up once." She gave him an encouraging nod, and he continued. "And why were we even there?! I don't have any problems! And even if I did, I wouldn't want my friends to know about them, they look up to me!"

"They do," not, she mentally added, "Although that may have been why you were there."

His hand jerked back, nearly toppling the entire tower as the block was yanked out. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that you might not have been there to help with your problems, but because your friends have problems and need your help."

Kai blinked in surprise, clearly having not considered that.

"In fact - and you might not like this too much, Kai - but it might even be better for them if you did have problems because they would know that it's okay to not be okay. Knowing you had problems too and were seeking help would help them be more comfortable doing the same."

She was right, he didn't like that, but if she was right about that she might be right about some of those other points too. Maybe not all the others looked up to him that much, but Lloyd sure did. Yet…

"But Lloyd wasn't even there!" Lloyd didn't have problems, or else Wu would have brought him. "And the others don't… Y'know… They don't quite look up to me that much."

Her eyebrows shot up, Lloyd hadn't been there? With everything the kid had been through and his through-the-roof trauma levels that every therapist dreaded having to deal with? Strange. "Just because he wasn't there doesn't mean he doesn't have problems. After all, if he was fine he would probably be helping your mentor with those that have problems." Plus there was no way Lloyd Garmadon was fine, not with what the kid had been through.

"Well, if he's struggling I could pretend to have my emotions out of control and feel like I'm constantly on edge for no reason… just to make him feel better."

She smiled. "Sounds great."

*healing*

Lloyd's door creaked open, and the green bean stiffened; Wu always knocked, his friends never came in anymore… in fact, he hadn't seen any of them in at least a week, for all he knew they had all moved out.

"Lloyd?" Kai couldn't see him, and Lloyd watched as the familiar, frantic eyes flicked across the room.

"Are you in here?" Panic laced the usually steady voice, his hands sparking. "Lloyd? Master Wu said you would be here, Lloyd?" Lloyd watched as Kai began searching his room, not thinking to look under the bed.

"I'm here." The words slipped out, he couldn't stand seeing Kai like this.

Kai finally spotted him, relief replacing the panic that had taken hold. "There you are. What are you doing down there?" There was a slight edge of anger mixed with the relief, and Lloyd instinctively shrunk back.

"Sorry." Kai sat, crossing his legs, still staring at Lloyd. "I- well, I haven't quite been feeling myself lately. It's been weird, like some… something has… no." His gaze shifted to the floorboards. "I'm not making any sense, but it's kinda like the past has come back to bite me a little more literally than I'd like."

Kai's fists were clenched tightly, but his voice remained calm.

Lloyd gave him a sad smile, recalling the events just two days earlier.

"Me too."