"Xenudah, you're so distant." Yakunan pointed out. "What's the matter?"
"My daughter... I can't find her... I can't find her anywhere." A tear trickled down Xenudah's cheek.
"Oh, son... You miss her, don't you? You miss her very much." Yakunan smiled softly.
Xenudah took a deep breath, gathering the courage that he would need to go ahead. He knew that he had done things that had been wrong. But he hadn't been able to control all the things he had done. He broke. He had broken. And, even though he had found his father, he was still fractured.
"There must be something I can do to help her, father. I can't do anything if I don't look for her."
Yakunan leaned in, rubbing his son's shoulders. "Xenu… Please… I know that you want to do something about it, but don't you think it's best if you wait and allow her to come back on her own accord? Don't go looking for her and don't go chasing after her. You could hurt her, Xenu. And you don't want that."
Xenudah looked down, tears staining his cheeks.
Yakunan smiled. "I know that you want to help her, Xenu. But I hope you will trust me more than your feelings. Because if you don't, you could end up hurting her instead."
Xenudah seemed to regain some of his composure, a faint smile returning to his face.
"There's nothing I can do until she comes back to me! You know that father! I don't want to wait forever! We don't have forever to wait! The Oni are out there! She's in danger! Why is it that I can't do anything to help her?!" Xenudah was at the end of his leash, the tears starting to drip once more. "The Oni are out there, and she's out there... and I can't save her! Why can't I, father? Why can't I save her? Why must I sit here and twiddle my thumbs while she suffers without me? Why?" His last words came out muffled because his face was now buried in his hands.
Yakunan placed a comforting hand on his son's back and smiled. "Because I can't lose you, Xenu. I still need you..."
"You need me?" Xenudah pulled his head out of his hands. "All I'm good for is hurting others." He smiled bitterly, wiping his eyes. "I would be no good against the Oni either. I proved that."
"And you've proven that you can move past that," Yakunan replied. "You can be a hero. That's why I need you. You're my son, Xenudah. You're my boy. I need you here with me. I need you safe." He pulled Xenudah into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"But I'm out of my mind. I can't even do anything to save her. How am I supposed to do this alone? What am I supposed to do?" He began crying in Yakunan's arms now.
"Shhhhhh..." Yakunan held his son close. "It's going to be okay. I can survive without you for a little while."
"No, you can't!" Xenudah pulled back and grabbed Yakunan, clutching his father's robes. "You can't...not you... You can't!" He was shaking.
"Please, Xenu..." Yakunan wrapped his arms around Xenudah again, pulling the boy into his chest. "Please… Everything's going to be fine..."
"Everything's not going to be fine," Xenudah whispered. "Something bad is going to happen. I can feel it. I know that something bad is going to happen... And I… I don't think I can handle it." His voice had become weak and soft. "I can't lose you too!" His voice dropped to a croak. Tears rolled down his sunken cheeks. "I don't want to lose you both, father... I can't… I can't…" He was shaking all over.
"I know... I love you very much..." Yakunan noted. "We're not going to lose each other. We're all going to be fine, Xenu. You are my son. I can't lose you. I've been planning for this day for a long time, and I will not lose you."
"I can't lose you, father." Xenudah tightened his hold. "You're all that I've got. I don't want to lose you." He had tears of his own, trickling down his face. "Please...don't...don't go away... I don't want you to leave me. But I can't leave Kymika behind either! She's my daughter…she and Shiren are the only other family that I have left! And I can't lose them... it's not fair... we're all going to die... and I don't want to die...father... Please...don't...don't leave me..." He broke down completely, howling into Yakunan's chest.
"I'm never going to leave you, Xenu. I won't. I promise..." Yakunan gently held his son in his arms, brushing his hair with his fingers. "I won't. I won't ever leave you. You're my son. I love you too much to leave you. You have to realize that. You have to trust me."
"I do trust you, father. I can trust you." Xenudah sniffled, wiping his eyes dry. "But I'm the one who's out of my mind... I don't trust my own mind. I can't believe that you're going to be fine without me. I don't know what to do..."
"Everything's going to be okay." Yakunan consoled. "With all of us together, we'll get through this. We'll all be fine. You two, Shiren, and I. We have to be fine. We always have been. You really are all that I've got."
"But I have to find my daughter, father... I have to make sure that she's okay. I can't just sit here and wait for her to come back... I can't let her suffer like this. I can't let the Oni get to her. I can't. I want nothing more than to be there and protect her, but I can't. It's just not possible. Father... I just…"
"Oh, Xenu…" Yakunan reached out, smoothing his son's hair down. "Your stubbornness worries me. You have to realize that what you're going to do is unpredictable. You can't go chasing after Kymika. Not right now. The Oni could be out to get her. And if she doesn't return, she will be in immense danger. You can't just go looking for her."
"If I don't, I'll never be able to forgive myself. I'll go crazy just thinking about what might happen to her, father. She's all I've got. My emotions always get the best of me..."
"I know, Xenu…" Yakunan pulled his son into his arms, holding the boy close. "If I were in your position, I would be in the same position as you. I would be so worried about the girl that I loved. You can't do anything to help her when you're this upset. I cannot afford to have you out of control."
Xenudah gave a deep sigh, resting his head on his father's shoulder. "...I wish that I could just deal with this thing, but I don't know what else to do. I can't just sit around and worry about it all the time. I can't do anything to help her if I don't go after her. I know that I can't. But if I do, I'm sure that something bad is going to happen. I'm sure about it. It hurts so much, father… I just... I just..." He broke down sobbing, the tears spilling over.
"I love you very much, Xenu." Yakunan hugged his son close, shushing him. "Please... Please don't cry... I'm not going to leave you... I'm not. You're going to be okay too. So is Kymika. So is Shiren. Everything will work out fine. We're just going to wait for her to come back now. And we'll all be okay. We just have to be." Yakunan held on tightly, squeezing his son.
Xenudah gave in. He rested his head on Yakunan's shoulder and cried. Yakunan ran a hand down his son's back, trying to soothe him.
"We'll pull through this together…"
"I can't lose you again! I can't, father! You've got to be with me! I won't understand it! I won't get over it. Please, father!"
"Shhhhh... Don't cry... Please calm down... Calm down." Yakunan stroked his son's head and back. "Calm down. You need to calm down."
"I can't," Xenudah exclaimed. "I can't calm down. I can't let go of what's going to happen. I just don't know how I can let this go. I don't know how to pretend that everything's going to work out." He let out a sob, his whole body shaking. Yakunan wrapped his son into a tight hug, holding the boy close.
"Everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine."
Xenudah's sobs began to fade. "But I don't know that... I can't see how it's going to be okay... I can't see how it's going to be fine... Something bad is going to happen... I can feel it in my soul... I just know it... I'm going to lose everything because of my own weakness... I can't take it. I'm going to go crazy..."
"You're not going to go crazy," Yakunan comforted. "I'll be here. It'll be fine. We're going to keep it together, you and I. And we'll be fine. Everything's going to be fine. I promise. I promise, Xenu." He held him close, using the last bit of his strength to try and comfort his son.
"Father…father… I'm sorry…" Xenudah hugged his father. "I'm sorry, father... This is all my fault…"
"It's not your fault–"
"It is..." Xenudah sobbed. "You nearly died because of me..."
"It's not your fault," Yakunan insisted. "You aren't to blame for any of this. You are not obligated to help Kymika anymore."
"But I am," Xenudah replied. "She's my daughter. She's the only family I have left. And I have to make sure that she's safe. I have to be with her. I have to protect her. I can't just sit here and do nothing. I can't leave her out there for the Oni to play with. It's not possible..."
"Xenudah, your wife and daughter are so strong… They can take care of themselves," Yakunan assured him.
Xenudah shook his head. "They're incredibly strong, father, but I don't think that they're strong enough... Not against the Oni... They're strong in their own ways, but they don't have the same type of strength that we have...I know that they can take care of themselves, but I also know that the Oni are sometimes unstoppable... I know that they're evil... I know that they're powerful... And they do whatever they want when they want. There's nothing that I can do about it. But I can't just stand here and watch my daughter die. I can't... I love her! I love my wife! And I can't let them go through this. It's not fair. I won't lose everything... I can't... I just... I just can't..."
Yakunan sighed deeply, running his hand over his son's hair. "I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave... But I can't stop you. If that is really what you want to do, you can't stop it. But you may very well die out there. You know that, right?"
"I know that, but I can't stay put..." Xenudah looked down. "I'm going to go insane if I'm sitting here all alone. I don't want to lose you... I don't want to lose anyone else..."
"We're going to be okay, Xenu." Yakunan tried to assure him.
"I know that the Oni are out there... I know that they're out there somewhere..." Xenudah clenched a fist, choking on his sobs. "But I can't... I can't... They're all that I have..."
"I know that Kymika and Shiren are going to be fine." Yakunan wrapped his arms around his son, holding him tight. "You have to trust me. Kymika and Shiren are going to be fine. We can't afford to worry about them just yet because things are moving a lot faster than us. We'll get to them as soon as we can. I know that they're in danger, but until we get there, we have to take care of ourselves. All of us. You, me, Shiren, and Kymika. You can't do anything for her, anyway."
"But I have to, father! Don't you get it?! I have to help her... I have to protect her... I can't just sit here and do nothing." Xenudah shook his head. "I can't just sit here and let her suffer! I can't leave them out there alone!"
"Xenudah, please–"
"I can't! I know that she's in danger... I know that it's there for her... but I can't just sit here and wait for her to return. I'm doing this because I want to. I want to take care of her. I want to protect her. If she doesn't come back, I want to be with her. I don't want to watch her suffer..."
"It's going to be okay," Yakunan assured him. "Trust me when I tell you that. I would never leave you. I would never let you do something that I thought was dangerous. And I would never let you deal with something like this alone. You're going to be with us. We'll be right here. I promise you that we're going to be okay."
"I love you, father..." Xenudah broke down crying again. "I love you so much... I love you and Kymika and Shiren more than anything... I don't want to lose you... I don't want to lose you all... I can't let you go... I don't know what I would do without you... I can't keep losing any more people I love!"
"Xenu…"
"I can't lose you all... I just... I just don't want to lose them... I can't take the pain without them. I can't show you how much I love you and all of you, but I can't focus on that... I can't stop the tears from flowing because I don't want to lose you all... I don't want to see you guys go... I don't want to feel this pain anymore... I just want to feel safe... I just want this all to stop..."
"We're going to be okay," Yakunan assured him, hugging his son close. "Things will work out. We just have to wait. It's going to be just a little bit harder." He wrapped an arm around his son. "Just hang on to me."
"I will." Xenudah buried his face in his father's neck, sobbing. "I'm sorry that I'm so weak..."
"You're not weak. I know that you're strong. You're just upset right now," Yakunan replied. "I know how much it hurts. When Ninjago split, it was so hard... it was the hardest thing I had ever experienced. It hurt me so much... I wanted to see you again so badly but I couldn't... It hurt so much... But we were fighting. We were trying to stay sane... We were trying to stay alive... We had to. I have to warn you. It really hurts..."
Xenudah pulled back, nodding. "I don't want to lose you, father. I don't want to lose them. I just–"
"We'll be okay, Xenu. We'll be okay. We'll be okay." He tried to smile. "We don't have to go through it alone. We're family. We've lost things we love and stuff has been taken away from us, but we're still together... And we can handle this. We're going to be okay. I promise."
"I know that we're going to be okay." Xenudah nodded. "I know that we have to work together to be okay... Just don't leave me alone... Don't leave my family... If you go away, they're all that I have. They're all I have... I don't know what I would do... I don't know what I would do without them... I don't know what I would do without you..."
"I understand. I miss them too," Yakunan replied. "But I don't think that we're going to lose them. I'm going to be here right beside you. You won't be alone. We're in this together, son. We'll all be okay."
Despite his tortured state, Xenudah managed a smile. "I'm really sorry for just bawling my eyes out. It's just–"
"I understand, son." Yakunan smiled. "Sometimes things just get the best of us. Don't feel bad about it. You're much better than you think you are. You're really strong. I should know."
"I'm really sorry," Xenudah shook his head. "I know that I tend to be a crybaby, but I always feel so terrible when I do that. I'm really sorry."
"Don't apologize. You feel so deeply for those you care about. That's a good thing," Yakunan replied. "I know that you feel bad, but don't apologize. It's not something to be embarrassed about. Don't ever be embarrassed about it. I know you don't like dealing with the pain, but at the end of the day, I'm always going to be here for you. I love you no matter what happens. My love for you will never change. No matter how you feel, I'll be here for you."
"I know that, father..." Xenudah nodded. "I'm so sorry. I just feel like I'm so weak... I know that I'm strong, but it just feels like I'm so weak sometimes... I can't stop crying, even though I know that it's not healthy. I can't stop crying because I feel so terrible, and I can't make it stop because it feels like it's never going to end. I feel so awful right now... I feel like I'm going to burst..."
"I know," Yakunan replied. "Believe me. I know how you feel. I've felt like this before. I thought I lost you when I never wanted to lose you to begin with… And I still don't… You're my child, and I love you… But stuff happens. We have to deal with it. Trust me that I'm going to be here for you… We all will be. We have to work together to be secure… You just have to believe me when I tell you that I love you and all of us… We'll be okay. We just have to be patient. We'll all be okay… We just have to be. One day, someday we'll all be together again..."