Harumi couldn't remember what life was like before she was able to fly .

Or at least, she couldn't remember anything besides how boring it was. Had she really been cooped up in that palace her whole life, not knowing how it felt to have the wind pushing against you so rapidly and swiftly, fueling her adrenaline? To see endless miles of clouds, and a perfect view of every sunrise and sunset. To feel the smooth scales of a dragon as you go faster and faster.

Harumi had reached for the sky her whole life, and now she felt like she belonged to it.

The sensation distracted her from what had happened, and she closed her eyes, letting the breeze whisk away the memories of this night, as she secured her grip around Kai's waist. For just a few moments, her mind was clear, and she was floating on air, not a care in the world.

Until reality hit her.

"Where do we take you?" Kai asked, without looking back. It was clear the question wasn't for her; however, Harumi still turned her head, looking back at Coal and Nya.

The latter had that same stricken face as she had from the moment this started, and Harumi felt it pierce into her. Nya was right. About all of this.

The former was... well, decidedly not okay. Fixing her gaze on the man, Harumi grew concerned at the ashen complexion he now bore, with his eyes scrunched tight and breath rapid. Harumi would be willing to bet he was afraid of heights. His next statement confirmed that.

"Anywhere, just as long as it's down!"

She could hear Kai let out a tense breath, which made Rumi feel guiltier. Already he had done so much right tonight. He didn't deserve the heart attack that he had probably gotten from following them, and Harumi knew she'd be hearing all about that later.

Still wanting to forget, the girl rested her cheek against his back, wanting to melt away from this chagrin. He didn't tense up... which was good. But he didn't loosen either, as if completely indifferent to her existence. Ouch, she thought, heart sinking. But maybe she deserved that.

Soon enough they landed. Her eyes were closed then, but she could tell by the way Flame had slowed, ascending before securing his feet on the ground with a light thud. Coal's dramatic gasp of relief caught her attention next, and she opened her eyes to find him hastily falling off the dragon's side, laying on the ground like his life depended on it.

"Never again," he whispered, bringing his hands to his eyes as if he were seeing things that needed to be unseen, "never, ever again."

"Hey, you alright?" Kai called from the reigns. He let go of them, and Harumi watched as he too slipped off the back of the dragon, moving to Coal's aid.

"Fine. Absolutely fine. Just not everyday, or any day, you see a- a..." His eyes widened, taking in Flame.

Oh... Harumi realized. Maybe it wasn't the heights. She had forgotten not everyone was accustomed to mythical beasts as alive and breathing beings. How would they even explain this to him? The old guardians of the ancient weapons that created this land was now in the care of them and an insignificant old hermit who had nothing better to do than teach them basic fighting skills, mutter riddles and whack Kai with a stick every time he muttered something remotely profane.

Yeah, that would be one heck of a story to tell.

"You get used to it," Kai assured him, pulling the other man up. Coal wearily steadied himself, momentarily taking this all in.

"Well, I can officially say I've seen the right side of abnormal. I guess your magic weapons are the real deal then, huh?"

"As real as it gets," Harumi said, defending her stance. But even her voice seemed unsure.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Kai grunted, fixing the girl with a glare. That set Harumi off just a bit. She had deserved the first one earlier this evening, but she debated letting him get away with that second one just because of the nerve.

She huffed, wrapping her arms around Flame for comfort and laying across his neck.

"Right, well, I ought to find out how we were followed so hopefully that never happens again." Coal said, waving a hand at the whole incident. "This'll be complicated to explain to Walker..."

"Send him our regards," Harumi added.

"Will do," Coal mustered a small smile in her direction. "Hopefully I'll see you again soon, Princess."

She smiled back, ignoring the bitter look Kai was giving her.

A roar sounded from somewhere farther away, and all of their gazes turned towards the night sky, distorted by the city lights which illuminated the figure of yet another dragon.

"Wisp!" Nya gasped, swiftly hopping off of Flame and running to the blue lightning dragon with a hug as soon as he landed. "Where were you when we needed you, boy?"

The sapphire blue dragon let out a snort of excitement, nuzzling into Nya, who had gained his favor in an instant.

"FSM, there's two ?" Coal breathed, wide eyed.

"Actually, there's four," the princess corrected him. She was glad she did so, though. His expression was priceless. She giggled at the face, before Kai bumped in once more, giving her a look that said he was not amused. Her eyes turned downcast.

"I'll keep in touch," Coal said, waving his goodbyes as he began stepping away from the two beasts.

"We'll see," the master of fire solemnly muttered under his breath, turning his back to the man in order to fix Flame's reigns. Harumi, who still lay against the dragon tried to study his face, regretting it the moment he faced her. The next look he gave her was harsher than before, and it clearly meant he was not in the mood for anything other than business and answers.

"Get off my dragon," The boy demanded.

Okay that, she was not letting him get away with.

Harumi did so (not because he wanted her to, but because she didn't want to ride with him anyway), trying not to release her anger just yet. There was a time and a place. Rest assured, he'd be hearing some words from her, though.

She made her way over to where Nya had already settled onto Wisp's saddle, hugging her friend from behind. Nya looked like she needed it. The way that she melted into it, Harumi definitely knew that Nya needed it.

"We'll talk to him," the raven-haired girl assured her. "He'll understand... I know he will."

"Why do you even want to?" Harumi's confusion slipped through. Her voice wavered with the unsureness and the humiliation at the events of tonight. "You were right all along... this was a bad idea."

"A bad idea, maybe... but not a lost cause..."

Harumi was surely shocked at those words. She hadn't expected Nya to be that on board. Honestly, she had expected her to take Kai's side the second he made an appearance.

But Nya had a tendency to surprise people. She really was the best friend... loyal until the end.

"Thank you," Harumi hugged her harder.

"No..." Nya whispered into Harumi's snow-white hair. "Thank you ."

Flying no longer felt right. It wasn't exciting. It wasn't freeing. Their silence was like a cage. It suffocated Harumi and kept her from saying what she wanted to say.

She could practically feel Kai's anger from where Wisp hovered slightly behind Flame. Every time that they tried to get close, Kai would pull away or go just a bit faster. It was so irritating. He was so irritating.

It was like they were kids again, and Rumi glowered at the thought. He was trying to shut her out in his child like anger and she would not have it.

Harumi gave Nya another nod to try again. The girl sighed, tightening the reigns to make the dragon accelerate. Blue wings brushed against red, and almost as if Flame was equally as mad, he gave out the same indignant puff. Wisp growled in response, flying just a bit faster and gliding forward so that they were equidistant.

"Dumb dragon." Kai said under his breath, avoiding looking at the girls.

"Kai..." The princess tried to start, though she may have come off a bit too passive.

"Harumi don't. You've done enough."

And that was it. She was not taking this anymore. Civil or not, she was not going to be ignored.

"First Spinjitzu Master, could you just listen?" Harumi finally burst, balling her fists.

The boy huffed. "Listen? Like you did to me? To WU?" His brows furrowed in built up frustration from the night. "I told you to stay away from Garmadon. I told you to just ditch your delusions of fighting him! Look what happened tonight! Those were just a few men; a few out of a whole army! And you almost got yourselves killed! Without me-"

"Then help us!" Harumi interrupted, fed up with his consistent need to tear her down every time she even dared to mention her hatred for Garmadon. It wasn't like Kai didn't like him either. And she knew that was a fact. He hated the empire with every fiber in his body, but he just insisted on doing nothing.

Tonight wasn't nothing. He needed to know that what she was doing was worthwhile.

"Kai, my duty is to Ninjago-"

"Oh, stop that -"

"No! I've waited long enough!" She said, near boiling. God, he was such a child. "Garmadon's expanding. And I know all you want to do is hide away safely but pretty soon even we won't be able to. Ninjago needs a real leader. Now."

"Kai, she's right..." Nya cleared her throat, having heard enough of their bickering. "I was trying to shut it out too, but we can't ignore what Garmadon's been doing. You of all people should know about the shortage of men in these areas. Children even. Towns being attacked. Fields being set on fire. It's becoming too real now, even all the way out here... Someone has to put a stop-"

"TO HELL WITH THAT."

Both of them were shocked into silence as his voice broke through their defenses, being carried away into the endless night sky. There was anger there, yes. But there was a touch of vulnerability to it that caught them off guard. Because Kai wasn't vulnerable. Ever. He hadn't been since...

Before he said the words, Harumi was now aware of what this was really about.

"I'm not losing anyone else to that monster."

The rest of the ride was agonizing silence. None of them knew what to say, despite all they wanted to. The breaking in his voice had broken them too. Because none of them could be strong if Kai wasn't.

"Talk to him..." Nya whispered. They had arrived at the monastery and were putting their dragons back in their stalls. Kai stood a few meters away, wordlessly attempting to shove Flame into his with no such luck. He hadn't looked at her once. Her heart sank, watching his emotionless movement.

"He'll listen to you..." Nya continued, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "At the end of the day, he always will..."

The look on her face was so meaningful that Harumi almost believed it.

She took a deep breath, lightly approaching Kai from where stood, facing away from her.

Her chest pressed against his back, as she embraced him. The girl could tell he wanted to get away. He didn't want to talk about this. He didn't want her to know what was going on inside of that head.

But Harumi didn't care. She hugged him because even though he didn't want it, he needed it. It was so long overdue, because she'd been meaning to do it from the first day.

"Harumi..." Kai sighed, sadly. Too sadly.

"I miss them too," she mumbled into his back. Her forehead rested gently between his shoulder blades.

He stiffened as her breath grazed his skin.

"Well I don't." he argued, stubborn as always. That alone would have annoyed her, but for some reason she couldn't be. Not with him, not right now. He was so hurt ...

"Tell me that all you want... but I know you better."

Kai didn't say anything. He was still as ever, still as apathetic as he had been since the massacre. She should have known that it was him who had it the worst. They'd all been mourning while he had done everything he could to get them back on their feet. He had recovered too soon for it to be real.

"I know you still cry at night... thinking of them. I know you only took up blacksmithing because your dad always pushed you to do it when he was still around. And you hated it... you always hated it..." She shook her head, pressing her head against him further, as she brought back memories she had tried so hard to forget.

"Harumi... please..."

"You only do it now for us. You've done everything for us. You only want to keep us safe. Because that's who you are. A protector." Harumi hugged him tighter. She could feel him shaking... he was crying. She was starting to struggle with her own too, but she closed her eyes, ignoring the sting of the tears.

"I... can't do this anymore, Kai. Pretending that things are okay. Crying for the innocents at night. Wishing I could just keep my people safe from harm. I need to do something."

At this point, she needed the embrace too. It hurt when Kai unwrapped her arms from around him, gently cradling her wrists as he pressed them to her chest. She looked up at him, silently begging him to just cooperate for once.

"They made me promise to look after you two... when he took them."

Kai looked so young then. Like he was thirteen again, holding her and Nya as they watched their home burn. And they waited for someone, anyone to come for them. And when no one did, he stopped crying, he stood tall, he grabbed their hands and carried them along until they found somewhere they could rest. And when that morning came, he worked. He found money, gave them food... and he never stopped. Even when Wu found them and took them in, he started that blacksmith shop to keep providing for them. He'd never stopped looking out for them.

And then it was like she was thirteen again, watching sixteen-year-old Kai bicker with his little sister over something utterly stupid and thinking First Spinjitzu Master, she loved that boy.

With the memories flooding back to her, Harumi didn't know what else to do. She snaked an arm behind his head, pulling his lips to hers. It was buried instinct at that point. Harumi didn't know what she had expected to happen, but he didn't pull away, so she relaxed enough to enjoy being this close with him again. And Kai, despite being an absolute mess, kissed her with that confidence that she had missed so much. His hand rested on the wrist of the hand that was digging into his hair, while his other touched her opposite elbow. The girl shivered as he brushed against her, pulling away from their moment and pressing her forehead against his.

"I'm sorry..." she said, burying her face in his chest, feeling her face begin to heat. Damn it, she wasn't twelve anymore. It was five years later, why couldn't she control herself!

"Don't be..." the boy said, fingers grazing against hers. She could swear that he was blushing, but it was hard to tell with his tanned skin. "You needed that..." She looked up at him expectantly, and he sputtered. "Fine. I did too."

They fell into more silence, Kai cradling Harumi becoming more awkward by the minute. She didn't care to pull away, however. She liked to hold her head against him, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

What they were, she couldn't tell. Things were always weird between them. They were just unpredictable. They weren't friends. They had to be something more. And then at times, it felt like less, as if they were always strangers and always would be.

But she knew Kai. And no matter what they were, Harumi's life had always had Kai in it. She couldn't be Harumi without him. And he couldn't be Kai without her. They would always be connected in that way, regardless of whether that connection ran deeper than it should.

"Kai..." she gazed up into his light brown eyes that glinted amber in the light. "I've always had you. For as long as I can really remember, even when you saw me as your annoying little sister's best friend... you were there for me. Please... can you have my back one more time?"

Kai sighed, suddenly remembering how this interaction had started off. He hadn't forgotten what happened, but he did push it to the back of his mind in an attempt to. "We're talking a war here, Harumi."

"And I can think of no one better than you to fight it with..."

He didn't have a rebuttal.

The boy finally caved, running a hand through his spiked hair. "I guess I can't say no, can I?"

"... you don't have to agree to anything, Kai," her eyes shined with a buried hope. He saw it then; her plea. She needed him. Not just in this way, where he was holding her. She needed his support. His approval. "I really just wish you would."

Harumi had always had a great way of convincing people to do what she wanted. Such a princess. He should have seen this coming, really. He sighed again, turning his head to hide his blush. "I'm with you to the ends of the world, Rumi. I always have been. If you're really sure about this then... fine ... I'm in."

Her excitement shocked him. Harumi wasn't one to show too much of her emotions; same as him, but she was way more composed. Though, it could be argued their tempers could go unmatched. Seeing that bright smile he hadn't seen since they lived in the palace warmed his heart just a bit, and her arms wrapping around him again had the same effect. He was mad blushing and he didn't like how one girl could do that to him.

"Thank you," she grinned, nuzzling her head into his shoulder.

He shifted uncomfortably, trying to push her off him before she could see how much he liked seeing her happy. FSM forbid, then she would really be able to get him to do anything. "Alright, alright. Don't get all sweet on me, Rumi." he cleared his throat, weakly adding. "You'll get cavities."

She stepped away, still grinning. He could still see her nine-year-old self beaming with happiness before the whole world fell apart.

"I'll take my chances," the girl joked. He froze as she reached up to kiss his cheek. "I'm going to bed before Wu figures out we were gone. I'll fill you in on details tomorrow."

"Right," he finally oriented himself as she walked away. "Goodnight, Rumi..."

The corners of her mouth turned upwards sweetly. "Goodnight."

The moment she left, he let out all the breath he was holding in, stressfully running his hands through his hair.

Flame snorted, rubbing his nose into Kai's arm. The Master of Fire grunted, pushing the dragon away.

"Don't give me that look."

A small plume of fire was shot in his direction.

"Yeah I know... I shoulda stood my ground. What else?"

The dragon huffed, turning away and spinning around to find a comfortable sleeping position.

"You gonna be grouchy with me all day?" Flame narrowed his eyes, with no reaction. Kai threw up his hands. Why did he get the dragon with attitude?

"At least you're going to get to stretch your wings a lot more often." Flame yawned. The absolute disrespect.

"Heathen ." Kai accused his dragon, which earned another burst of fire.

"Fine, you hate me. Goodnight, drama queen."

Flame growled, low enough to be some form of a threat, but Kai was impervious to fine lines at this point.

"Yeah, you heard me. Get some beauty sleep, you big lump of scales."

As Kai closed the door to the stables, he caught sight of the moon glistening outside. It was pretty late. He wondered how often Harumi really was sneaking out and how Wu hadn't caught on yet.

He also wondered how all of this had gone on beneath his own nose. Was he really so tuned out of their lives that he didn't catch on to all of this? He should have been better than that. He should have stopped her before she even got this far.

But, it was Harumi. She had an iron will that even he couldn't beat. This probably would have happened regardless, and he probably would have agreed to help from the start.

Spoiled brat, he shook his head at the thought of her, looking down at the gi he'd refused to touch the moment Wu had given it to him. It had buried in his closet for seven years.

Master of Fire...

He hated the title now more than ever because wearing this gi just made it all the more real.

The legends were undoubtedly true, though he endlessly denied them. There's only a certain amount of times you can accidentally burn yourself (or the entire kitchen that one time...) before you have to stop ignoring the patterns. He'd still done his best to hide the abilities through his blacksmithing. It seemed he had gone unnoticed. But he only dreaded the day he would hold that golden sword to channel his element and officially become the Master of Fire. He didn't want any part of this; he just wanted to keep them safe.

But... perhaps this would be the best way to do that.

He struggled a bit to get it going but soon enough a small flame burned in his hand. He studied it before it eventually blew away with the wind.

Kai hated lying to her most of all.

He sighed, closing his palm where the flame had been.

This is going to be a disaster.

"Are you sure we're not just being pranked?"

Kai's snarky remarks were starting to get on her nerves. That and the annoying music blasting from all directions in this stupid arcade.

Actually, everything about the arcade was annoying. The obnoxious smell of pizza, the squealing of children, and the flood of multicolored lights were starting to give her a headache.

She preferred the bar over this.

"Yeah, maybe Coal realized she was too young to drink and wanted to put her in the right environment," Nya giggled, sipping from her soda. Kai swiped it, and Nya gave out an indignant "Hey!"

"Too much sugar, young lady."

"I'll young lady you-!"

Harumi buried her head in her arms, groaning. "Would you two please be quiet?"

"Uh oh, throwing tantrums now? Way to act your age, Rumi."

Harumi looked up at Kai with murder in her eyes.

That look shut him up. She gave a proud "humph" and sat up, stealing the soda from him.

"Evil. All of you." The brunette sulked.

The girls laughed, and even Kai cocked a smile.

Harumi was glad to have him here. Both of them. Things actually felt... normal. Fun. Without the secrets hanging over their heads, Harumi could feel herself lighten up already, even in enemy territory.

Now if only they weren't anxiously waiting for Coal and Walker.

Walker... She thought, imagining what this interaction would be like. She wasn't sure what to think. She'd heard the name countless times and yet had never met him. She knew he had authority, and if someone like Coal wouldn't even consider getting on his bad side, he had to be pretty strong. And, of course, his skills were legendary in the underground community.

It had still come as a shock to her that tonight he was actually coming. After a week of waiting for word from Coal, she had been preparing herself for the worst. And at the last minute, he had told them all to be here of all places.

She'd be lying if she said she was calm. She was internally freaking out.

"I wonder what Walker's like..." Harumi said, trying to pass the time. Every minute they waited she grew more aware of everything.

"Sounds like a jerk." Nya shrugged. "Mr. Can't show his face because he's all high and mighty. Please. It's only hacking."

"Like you can hack things." Kai deadpanned.

"I-I-" Nya sputtered. "I happen to have very useful skills when it comes to technology."

"Well, I think they're both jerks," Kai said, ignoring Nya's rebuttal.

"Hey, Coal was sweet!" his little sister argued, before she stopped, pink rushing to her cheeks.

Kai cocked a brow.

"What's with the face."

Harumi snorted, trying to hide her smile behind her hands.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Nya has a-"

"DEEP HATRED FOR EVERYTHING RELATED TO BOYS." The raven-haired girl burst, slapping a hand over Harumi's mouth with a glare that said 'don't you dare'. Harumi exploded into giggles.

Kai rolled his eyes. "Girls. Giggles." he shivered. "I don't get it."

Their light conversation was interrupted by the waiter, who slid a pizza onto the table. It took them by surprise. Harumi hadn't noticed him before, with his seemingly energetic personality, and light blue hoodie hidden behind his orange and yellow striped apron. He must've just gotten there. His auburn curls bounced as he bent down to do so and stood back up, shoving a notepad into the pocket of his apron.

"One pepperoni," the boy said with a wink of his striking blue eyes.

Harumi beamed at him.

"Thanks!"

"Wait, we didn't order a-!" Kai called after him.

"Weird," Rumi said, looking after the boy. But kinda charming ... she pleasantly thought.

"Did he just wink at you?" Nya asked incredulously. Probably a bad idea. The murder was set in Kai's eyes this time.

"He did what?" he went serious.

Harumi couldn't help but flash him a smug smile. "Yeah. Jealous?"

Kai was not amused.

"Why do you get the cute ones?" Nya trailed with a sigh, taking a small bite of the pizza.

"Wha- WHAT did you say?"

"He really was, wasn't he?" Harumi added, attempting to tease Kai. He sat back; arms crossed.

"Evil. Pure evil."

Nya snickered, shoving a plate of pizza in her brother's direction. "Eat, you big baby."

Kai grumpily muttered something unintelligible, and probably profane, lifting to shove at least half of the pizza slice into his mouth. Harumi frowned, disgusted by his sloppiness. He lifted his eyebrows as if to say 'try me'.

Harumi scoffed, looking away from his bad mannerisms. How he had lasted more than a day in the palace was beyond her.

"FSM we've waited so long imma give em a piece of my mind," Kai said without swallowing. Harumi glared at him. He was doing it on purpose. He took a long sip of the soda to wash down the food.

"Oh, hi Coal," Nya said, unfazed.

Kai spit out his drink, spraying it all over his side of the table. Harumi was equal parts amused and repulsed.

Sure enough, when she glanced up, Coal was greeting them with a small wave, rushing in from the cold evening.

"Sorry I'm late," he was hasty to apologize, taking off his jacket and sitting next to Nya. The raven-haired girl stiffened and Harumi watched as Nya made a great effort to not look. It was hard not to, though. Coal was obviously an athlete; there was no other way to explain his physique. "Just... life stuff, really. I told Walker to just meet here early. AW SWEET!" he eyed the dish with almost giddy excitement. "I haven't had Bunny's Pizza in forever."

"Help yourself," Harumi told him cheerily.

"Well Coal, was it? It's funny that you say Walker was supposed to meet us here early," Kai said, "because I see no Walker."

Coal shook his head, swallowing his first bite of food, before speaking. Harumi was pleased, and she shot Kai a pointed look, eyes saying 'see? It's called being polite'. Kai obviously did not care. "Oh no. He's here. I just saw him."

Brows furrowed with confusion; Harumi looked at him. "That can't be right. The only people here are us, some kids, and..."

Of course, as her sentence trailed off, the waiter from a few minutes ago approached them again, having discarded his apron, and setting his notepad on the table. Harumi stared with wide jade eyes, realizing it was him. He slid into the booth next to Kai, who did not look pleased in the slightest.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting. I wanted to make sure Coal got here before continuing on with things."

Harumi had to take a few more seconds to register that this was Walker. A pizza boy, who was skinny as a twig and seemingly their age. He was just... average.

She was so underwhelmed that it was overwhelming.

Meeting Nya's eyes, she could tell her friend had had the same reaction. But she also looked scared. That's when the second reaction hit Rumi.

Oh FSM ...

They had called him cute.

Kai actually laughed. "Wait so you're Walker?"

"Hey, not so loud, Red," Walker snapped, with a low hiss.

Kai, clearly offended that someone other than Harumi or Nya had the nerve, let out an indignant breath, mumbling "s'not my name."

"But to answer your question, yes. I am."

"It's really nice to meet you," Harumi grinned, hopping on the opportunity to make a better first impression. It hit her then that the wink he gave her earlier was probably a sign.

She felt kind of dumb now.

But Walker returned the smile.

"Nice to officially meet you too, Jade."

Cleared his throat, Kai's eyes traveled between them.

"Alright, break the eye contact, and let's get this over with, please ."

"You need a nap," Nya spoke in an offhanded tone.

Walker beamed, taking notice of her. "You must be X. Coal told me a bit about you last time you met. I'm the jerk ."

Nya paled. "You heard that?"

Walker shrugged, sitting back with a knowing grin. "Every word."

And suddenly, Walker had all the influence at their small booth. They all watched as he got serious, flipping through his notepad.

"Well, I guess we should start this off. I know the fortress-like the back of my hand. Even after some digging, I'm not convinced that your weapons are there."

"What?" Harumi implored. "They have to be!"

Walker peeked up at her, bearing patience. "I wouldn't worry. There are other places Garmadon might be keeping them if they're as important as you say."

Relieved, Harumi nodded.

"Wait, hold on," Kai interrupted him. They all turned their attention to him. "If they're not in the most heavily guarded fortress of all time, where in the hell would they be?"

"Somewhere worse," Walker mumbled with a strong exhale. "I don't know for sure, but I have my suspicions that Garmadon has a... prison ... of sorts elsewhere. He takes people that he doesn't want to get away there... and maybe he would be keeping artifacts hidden there as well. Just a hunch."

Nya scoffed. "You want us to follow you on just a hunch?"

Walker pointedly peered up at her, slightly irked. "You wanted my help, sweetheart."

Nya sat glowering at him.

Feeling herself start to sweat from the built-up tension, Harumi rubbed her palms on her legs. Maybe bringing Kai and Nya wasn't the best idea.

"And I know the place is real because I've seen them, um, take people there. It's our best bet."

"Great!" Harumi exclaimed in an attempt to lighten the mood. Any second now, Kai or Nya was going to tick him off enough to leave and she would not be having that. "How do we get there."

"We don't know." Coal explained through a bite of pizza, looking to Walker.

Walker facepalmed, which seemed to confuse Coal as well as all their reactions.

"We do have ideas. Remember Coal?"

"Ideas?" The man stared off, blanking. "Umm..."

Walker glared at him before a light seemed to go off in his thought process. "Oh! Right! The dragons."

Burying his face in his hands, Walker sighed. "Thank you, Coal."

"Should I sit back for a while?"

"Yeah. You do that."

As they talked, Harumi's perspective of them shifted a little. They clearly weren't just business partners. They talked like Kai and Nya and Harumi did with each other. As if they had been familiar with each other for years. Maybe they even knew each other in their everyday lives, outside of the illegal commerce they had gotten involved in.

Recovering from the embarrassment that Coal's moment had brought, Walker bounced back into business. "Anyway, are you familiar with a place called the Underworld?"

The name clicked with all of them, and they exchanged glances.

Wu had mentioned the Underworld in his stories... it was the realm Garmadon had been banished for nearly ten years. And it was definitely nowhere any normal mortal could get to.

Walker chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, I've heard the word thrown around only about a million times. I'm like maybe 85% sure that that's the destination we're looking for. And whaddya know? You three happen to have the only creatures that can travel from our realm to that one."

First Spinjitzu Master... what kind of coincidence was that.

Kai groaned, covering his eyes. "Stupid destiny."

"Convenient," Harumi smiled.

"Very," Walker agreed. "If we get there then we're pretty much home free. The only setback that we might have from there are the only two people I've witnessed travel to and from the Underworld."

"Which would be?" Nya pressed.

"Garmadon and his son."

They took a pause, processing that. Kai spoke first.

"Garmadon... has a son?"

Coal and Walker looked to each other before turning back to them.

"Man... you guys really aren't from around here, are you?" Coal mused.

"You have no idea," Harumi told them shyly.

"I'm sorry ..." Kai spoke again. " Garmadon has a son ?!"

"A highly trained assassin," the hacker corrected him solemnly. "And he's no joke. If you run into him, I'm telling you, you might not be making it out of there."

Harumi suddenly had a brief flash from some time away. Back when this had all started.

.

.

"Help!" she cried, trying to climb her way through the debris. It was no use. She was too small and the fire had become too large. Tears burned her cheeks and she screamed. "HELP ME PLEASE!"

And then suddenly, a boy had climbed through the rubble. He wore all black and a weapon of gold gleamed in his hand. He stared at her... blankly... expressionless even as the palace began to crumble.

Her chest rose and fall as she looked at him.

"Help me," she whispered.

His face twisted into something horrified, and he gasped. The roof began to fall and before she could register what was happening, he had grabbed her hand and ran. The crash of the ceiling sent her reeling, and she screamed, struggling to keep up with the boy. But he kept going.

He saved her.

.

.

She shook her head, disoriented. Garmadon had a son...

Had it been him?

She couldn't ponder it much further as she tuned back in.

"Now... for payment..."

"Payment?" Nya scorned. "Are you serious?"

"Hey, this stuff doesn't come easy. All I want is a small compensation for my work and I'll get you in and out to the best of my ability."

"You're not even going to go with us?!"

"And risk my life in that hellhole? Uh, no thank you!"

"Forget this!" Nya stood up angrily. "I could easily just do this myself. There's no need for a cowardly fraud to-"

"Stop it ..." Harumi hissed, glaring at her from across the table. She prompted her friend to sit down. "Walker is the only one who can do this." She turned to the man in question. "We don't have payment right now. But the next time we meet, we'll pay you generously."

"Sounds like a deal," Walker flashed them a smile as he confidently stood. "We'll keep in touch."

"Where are you going?" the princess inquired.

"To shoo some kids out of here."

As Walker disappeared from their sight, the group eyed each other. Coal bit his lip.

"I should probably go too. Got my folks waiting for me." He gave them his signature friendly look, pulling up his gray hood. "Nice to see you all again, though. And Red, it was nice to officially meet you. Welcome to the team!"

"Not my name," the boy in red grumbled.

"Bye Coal!" Harumi and Nya called out in unison. Harumi gave her friend a significant look, and Nya pretended to ignore it.

"Can we go home now?" Kai whined as soon as they were alone.

"Kai, if you say one more word tonight, I'm going to call Coal back here," Harumi said sweetly.

"Yeah, no thanks," the boy quickly replied, hopping up.

Harumi and Nya both chortled with laughter, as they both registered the same piece of vital information.

Kai was scared of Coal.