- Seven Months Later -

Nya considered it a stroke of luck that Skylor had a safe house in the canals; it gave them, being Misako, PIXAL, Darreth, herself and Lloyd, a chance to take care of themselves before relocating and meeting up with Skylor.

Nya swallowed back tears, wiping the ones that escaped from her eyes on the sleeve of her gi. She had been forced into hiding before when Nadakhan had painted them as criminals, but she had the others.

She had Kai, who would pull her into a tight hug every time she would get too into her head. She had Jay, who always knew how to make her smile even when she was crying. She had Zane, who always kept her calm with logic and critical thinking, but was never cold towards her. She had Cole, who would always talk her through what she was going through, and give her solid advice.

Nya winced as she pulled up her left sleeve, revealing a plethora of bruising that she immediately started to use what she could find in the first aid kit on, thoughts about the boys still swirling in her head.

'Kai, Cole, Zane, Jay...they were all prophesied to protect Lloyd and now they're gone,' she realized, applying a small ice pack against her wrist, 'I guess that makes it my mission then. To stay strong for him, and make sure he defeats Garmadon for good.'

Despite what she tried to tell herself, she couldn't keep the pang of mourning from stabbing her in the chest; it hurt as much as the tiger widow venom, but unlike that, the grief was much more agonizing.

She pulled down her sleeve and checked her face in the mirror; the skin around her eye was turning purple from the fight she had engaged in with Garmadon and there was a jagged scratch going down her chin, but the rest of the injuries were well hidden.

'That's the last thing Lloyd needs to blame himself for.'

And with that, she made her way towards the one bedroom where Lloyd was supposed to be resting after the fight; he had insisted on his mother, Nya, even Darreth taking the one bed, but they all knew that he needed it the most.

After all, he was the one who had lost his powers, who was still injured from his fight in Kryptarium; he hadn't stopped shaking since he landed on the small boat they had used to pick him up, but she couldn't even blame him. He had watched as the Bounty, their family, had been mercilessly… destroyed.

Nya swallowed back her tears and gently tapped her knuckles against the door, the kind of knock Kai would use when she was sick, injured or just upset; she wouldn't be surprised if Lloyd was suffering from a combination of all three.

She tapped against the door just a little louder this time, but when she didn't get a response, she opened the unlocked door and closed it behind her.

Nya couldn't keep her relief in when she saw the lump in the bed that confirmed Lloyd's presence where he was supposed to be and sat on the edge of it.

"Hey, did you get patched up?" She whispered softly as he laid her hand on his leg, unsure if he was awake.

"Yeah, PIXAL made sure of it," he responded. Nya was able to hear that his voice was thick with tears.

The room was quiet for a few moments; she was unsure what to say, or even what to do, but she had to do something before the tears that were threatening to emerge spilled over.

"Do you…," she could hear Lloyd swallow before trying again, "do you think that if I didn't trust her, we'd be okay."

"Lloyd, they would've gotten the mask with Master Wu if we didn't interfere. You had no reason to suspect her of anything, none of us did." Nya explained softly, pushing back anything that would disprove her point, when Lloyd sat up and she finally got a good look at all of the damage that the Sons of Garmadon, and Garmadon himself, had caused.

The cuts on his face were healing slowly, even though the one that had been next to his hairline was now covered by a white bandage.

His eyes were bloodshot and...they were no longer green. Instead, they were a medium brown with flecks of red in them, like they were when they first took him in. A scared, starving kid in a black hoodie with white paint splattered on it trying to be like his father.

"You didn't trust her at first, Nya. You said you didn't like her."

"And she pulled the wool over my eyes with all that girl talk, remember?" Nya asked softly, maneuvering so she could gently wrap her arm around his shoulder, "trust me when I say that no one blames you. You're not the first to get carried away with a crush."

"If you're talking about Skylar, she didn't get a choice. She was just doing what Chen told her to do," Lloyd's voice was shaky with anger and heartbreak as he pulled away from her hold, "And that worked out, didn't it? We're in her safe house, after all. Rumi is...she isn't being forced to do anything."

"I know you feel as though you have to put everything and everyone on your shoulders, but you don't," Nya spoke, her voice unwavering with a newfound determination, "The boys were prophesied to be your protectors, not the other way around-"

"And they're gone now! Master Wu, Cole, Zane, Jay, Kai, they're all dead! And if anyone else is going to die, I'd rather it be myself then you!" Lloyd shouted back, his eyes welling with tears, but the red coming through more than the brown.

Nya swallowed back her anger. Lloyd was grieving, he always felt the need to take personal responsibility, even when it wasn't his to be responsible for, and while that worked with Master Wu and the others, she was not going to let him do this to himself.

"I'm going to protect you from Harumi, Garmadon, The Sons of Garmadon, and anyone else who tries to fuck with you. I don't care that you don't want me to, that you feel as though offering yourself as a martyr will make this better, I'm going to," she got off the edge of the bed and started to make her way to the door, only stopping when she heard him sniffle.

"I know your life has been scarred by tragedy. That every time something good happens, something worse has to destroy it. But going into this rebellion, this...resistance, with the attitude of wanting to die for it…" she trailed off, finally turning around to see Lloyd's eyes on her, the tears finally leaving her eyes, "Lloyd, that will kill you. And I am not losing anyone else, not after today."

And with that, she finally left the room, only waiting for the door to click shut before allowing her grief to fully consume her.

'I can't believe I'm saying this, but Kai would've handled that better than I did.'

•••

Lloyd wasn't sure how much time passed from when Nya left his room to when he heard the door open, announcing Skylor's arrival with food, medicine, blankets and other essentials.

If he was being completely honest, he wasn't sure how long it had been since he had been held over the monorail by Rumi and…

The sinking feeling in his stomach made him want to curl up and sleep for weeks, but because of him and his stupid mistakes, he didn't get the luxury.

They didn't have much time before they got hunted down by the Sons of Garmadon, just enough time to patch up their injuries and now that Skylor was here, that meant she found a more permanent hiding spot.

Lloyd knew he should've listened to Kai when that motorcyclist nearly ran him off the road, but thinking back on it, he knew fully well why he didn't.

A year ago, when he had to take up the mantle of master for his team, he would've given everything up just to see his father again, even if that was in the cursed realm.

But now...now he was starting to think he'd be okay if he never saw him again, the memory of what Zane had said to Jay on the Island of Darkness ringing true in his head.

'"Perhaps it is better to remember our friends as we knew them in our hearts. Not as they are now."'

He remembered telling his mother that he didn't remember his father any other way, only for her to insist that he loved him and that it was the venom of the Great Devourer that did this.

But now...now he did remember his father. And this was not him, no matter how much the little voice in his head, the scared kid who didn't know where his destiny would lead him, insisted that it was. That he had saved him before, that he could save him again.

Lloyd stood on his shaking legs, still weak from his fight in the prison, and made his way to the main room.

Chen's takeout boxes were on the table and the others were scarfing down food like there was no tomorrow, but they stopped when he came in the room and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak.

He adjusted so he was leaning against the doorway, his legs already threatening to collapse under him, before addressing the four members of his group who remained.

"I can't promise that the Sons of Garmadon aren't going to take us down, that my father will...do something worse. But what I can promise is that ninja never quit," he stopped for a second, his eyes catching Nya's small but determined smile, "and I know that not all of us are ninja, but we are something that could be even stronger."

He took a deep breath, memories of Jay, Kai, Zane, Cole, his brothers and memories of his uncle flooded his vision, before returning to the present.

"We are the resistance. And the resistance never quits."