The next morning, Zane made a hot breakfast for everyone. Well, everyone except Sagittarius, who was the only one who didn't stay overnight – she opted to leave around 1am, stating that she had a 'meeting' in the morning. Being a good brother, Phoenix lent her his dragon so she could get home safely. Inferno returned immediately afterwards, and Phoenix used the opportunity to take Aruna for a romantic pre-dawn flight; it was magnificent, soaring through the starry sky with his beloved in his arms…

It had also been somewhat miraculous, as over the course of their dragon-back sojourn, most of Phoenix's pre-regeneration memories had returned. He was so excited that once they got back, he rushed around the temple looking for Magpie to tell her the good news. Phoenix was surprised however, to learn that Magpie was not in Nya's room, but Lloyd's. He snickered to himself as he recalled putting Magpie's number into Lloyd's phone and, feeling a strange satisfaction in knowing that his matchmaking attempt had worked, he went back to the meditation room and snuggled up with Aruna for a lovely sleep.

Currently, it was 11am, and the party wound down less than 7 hours ago. The temple was in a bit of a state after such a late finish, and because everyone was at least a little tipsy, they unanimously decided they'd clean up once everyone had gotten some sleep first.

"I can stay and help clean if you like." Phoenix offered.

"Don't be silly," Nya dismissed with a smile. "the party was for you; we can't expect you to stay and clean."

"Yeah, it was our idea, we can handle it." Jay agreed.

"Thanks, that's really kind of y'all." Phoenix beamed.

"So, once you're settled back at home, what are you gonna do first?" Kai asked.

"I mean, I will come back to finish the posing lessons if you want," Phoenix asserted. "but I might just relax for a couple days, see if any more memories come back."

"In that case, perhaps Aruna should stay with you for those days," Pixal suggested. "you've remembered so much in her presence, it would be wise to spend more time with her."

Aruna blushed.

"Thank you for having such confidence in me," She stammered, putting her hand on Phoenix's. "I would indeed love to be with you for a little longer..."

"I'd like that too," Phoenix smiled adoringly at her. "how does forever sound?"

Her eyes widened, and she blinked at him in surprise.

"…Pardon?" She squeaked.

"Among the hundreds of years of memories that came back, I also remembered why you're so important," He started to explain, dropping down from the sofa so he was on his knees before her. "you're my soulmate, Aruna, I've loved you every lifetime for hundreds of generations – since I first got my powers – and I can't be away from you anymore."

Aruna's face burned redder than ever, and her eyes were welling up with tears. The room was silent as the others observed this confession, only for the air to fill with excited gasps and squeaks when Phoenix pulled a jewellery gift box from his back pocket. Magpie could barely sit still, as Phoenix opened the box and presented Aruna with the chain and dog tag that Cyrus had given him. Phoenix reached for the chain he wore and pulled it out from under his shirt, letting it drape down on his chest, subtly drawing attention to the dog tag, but also to something else tucked behind it. Aruna squealed in excitement before covering her open-mouthed shock with her hands.

"Phoenix," She gasped. "what are you…? I mean, is that…? Is this what I think it is?"

"Aruna, you are my precious diamond, my beautiful soulmate; will you also be my Yang?" He asked softly.

"Oh darling!" Aruna choked out. "Yes, yes! A thousand times yes!"

All the girls promptly lost their composure, shrieking in a hyperactive fashion; Nya and Kiku were bouncing in their seats, and Pixal had all but fallen apart happily sobbing, while Magpie yelled 'finally!' as her brother held up the silver chain from the gift box, showing that behind the dog tag emblazoned with the moon kanji, was the black half of a yin yang pendant…

Cole and Jay cheered, having made this proposition to Jasper and Nya respectively, and received their own 'yes' in response; Zane offered Pixal some tissues as he rubbed her shoulder, Kai gave a crude whistle and Lloyd smiled widely, exchanging a secretive glance with Magpie at this news. Phoenix delicately placed the chain around Aruna's neck, securely connecting it at the back and giving her a gentle kiss on the lips. She gazed at him, her eyes filled with utter devotion and joyful tears, then pressed her forehead to his.

"It's so beautiful, I can't handle it!" Nya sniffled.

"Took you long enough." Magpie teased.

"And all it took was being raised by another pair of soulmates," Jay noted, looking at Zane and Pixal. "you guys did great."

"Thank you," Zane grinned as he held his emotion-stricken wife. "this is a wonderful development."

"I wanted to wait until I planned something grand and romantic," Phoenix mentioned to Aruna. "but I just couldn't wait any longer."

"I'm glad you didn't wait," Aruna beamed, her wolfy ears flattening backwards as she hugged him tightly. "you've made me so happy…"

"Well, Phoenix, If you're anything like your dad, you'll be engaged in a few days." Kai joked.

"And married before the new school year starts!" Lloyd added with a chuckled.

Aruna was so embarrassed by the prospect of marriage being discussed so casually, that she hid behind her hands. Phoenix put his arms around her, kissing her on the head. He wouldn't mind that timeline at all, but he understood that it might be frighteningly fast for Aruna and the last thing he wanted was to potentially push her away with his eagerness.

"Speaking of marriage, when are you two gonna get it together?" Cole chuckled, pointing at Jay and Nya in turn.

"I could ask the same about you and Jasper, you're already Yin-Yang Promised to each other after what – 18 months?" Jay quickly deflected. "Gotta admit though, I'm kinda surprised the two of you would subscribe to that kind of thing."

"I'll be the first to admit that I'm usually counterculture about this stuff, but I can't ignore that it felt like it was the right time." Cole smiled at Jasper, as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Poor Lloyd," Kiku snickered. "he's the last single one left…"

"Uh…" Lloyd blushed while looking at Magpie.

"So Golden Boy's finally got someone!" Kiku teased. "What do you make of that, Fireball?"

"Let me put it this way; I'm the one who put her number in his phone!" Phoenix laughed.

"I was wondering about that," Lloyd mentioned. "wait, you remember doing it?"

"Yeah," Phoenix nodded. "Magpie had just finished singing you to sleep on a video call, I was pretending to be asleep myself, and I put you back to bed once she'd hung up!"

"You sneaky little demon!" Magpie grinned as she pointed at him accusingly. "You plugged your ears with contour feathers, didn't you?"

"Maybe…" Phoenix taunted, looking away guiltily.

"Typical; after decades of overprotection, he decides to try and set me up with someone…" Magpie shook her head in disbelief, giggling softly.

"It was the least I could do," Phoenix nodded. "just don't tell Sage, or she'll expect me to loosen up with her too."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Cole wondered aloud.

"I'm telling you, she's too young; I remember having to chase off several men from uni who wanted to pursue her." Phoenix crossed his arms with certainty.

"Phoenix… give it up… Sagittarius is not the age you say she is…" Magpie rolled her eyes at him.

"She's young compared to us, and that's enough for me." Phoenix insisted.

"I thought she was 17 going on 18," Cole began, glancing at Magpie curiously. "how old is she really?"

Phoenix tilted his head up, refusing to say a word.

"So, Phoenix isn't 26, he's hundreds of generations old, and you're not 22, you're 236," Jay stated, trying to calculate Sage's true age. "does that mean Sage is like, 80 or something?"

"No, she's-."

"Between 20-30 years old," Zane posited. "based on what we know about Magpie's origins, Sagittarius likely also started as a regular bird who died prematurely and was brought back by Phoenix – am I right?"

Phoenix felt the gaze of 11 pairs of eyes staring him down, awaiting an answer to whether Zane's prediction was correct. After a few moments of hesitation, he sighed in defeat.

"Yes…" He admitted. "She was a secretary bird, from a bird sanctuary that Magpie was working in at the time."

"Ah, that explains the name you gave her – the scientific name for the secretary bird is Sagittarius serpentarius." Pixal asserted.

"It was 26 years ago; her original name was Gwen, and she was given to the sanctuary when her owner passed away," Magpie explained. "but she was heartbroken about her owner's death, and she died in her sleep soon after; I asked Phoenix to revive her like he did with me, but while it was happening, another staff member came into work early."

"Which is why you rushed through the regeneration, why your organs were scarred, and why you developed health issues." Zane theorised.

"Got in one." Magpie nodded.

"My poor ho-oh." Pixal sniffed.

"Aw come on, mama, please don't cry – I'm fine now." Phoenix declared.

"I know, but I'm still saddened by how much you have suffered." Pixal noted sadly.

Phoenix got up from his place next to Aruna, and walked over to Pixal, giving her a warm, reassuring hug to try and comfort her. She hugged him back tightly, sniffling as she blinked the tears back.

"At least I'll be able to see you more often from next year." Pixal announced.

The ninja all exchanged a curious glance. Such a statement could have meant anything, but Lloyd and Cole had a vague idea of what Pixal was talking about. Phoenix sensed the confusion in the air, and he released his grip on Pixal before he returned to Aruna's side.

"Uh, Zane, Pix; is there something you want to tell us?" Cole baited.

Zane stood up, and Pixal grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We were waiting for the right time to tell everyone," Zane expressed ominously. "but we didn't want to overshadow Phoenix's 18th cycle."

The whole team was listening intently, practically on the edge of their seats.

"My father wishes to retire," Pixal started. "he has asked us to take over New Ninjago in his stead, and we have decided to accept."

They were met with silence and shocked faces.

"Are… are you serious?" Nya gasped.

"Affirmative," Zane confirmed. "he intends to retire by the spring, and as such, we will be moving to the city in the new year."

"The team is… splitting up?" Jay whimpered.

"We will still be a team, and I will still be a ninja, but my base of operations will be Borg Industries." Zane clarified.

"You two are going, Kiku is going, the temple is gonna feel so empty!" Nya stammered.

"Uh, that's not necessarily true…" Kiku interjected.

All eyes fell on her, and she sat up straight as everyone turned to look at her at the same time.

"Okay, I don't want to step on your toes sis, but I've got an announcement too…" Kiku opened. "I'm not going back to the city, dad said I can move my base of operations here."

"Is that true?" Kai asked hopefully.

"Yes," Kiku smiled dotingly. "I know we were gonna be long-distance and see how we got on, but I can't bear to be apart from you, Kai."

"This is fantastic!" His face lit up and he pulled her into a wonderous hug, nuzzling into her shoulder.

"Does Sensei know?" Lloyd asked.

"Of course, I asked him before I spoke to dad," Kiku replied, patting Kai's back as she held him in return. "I know there'll be times when we're both away on separate business, but ultimately, I want to be able to come home to Sonny."

"Sonny?"

"What? What's the big deal?" Kai demanded.

"Nothing, it's just funny that Kiku is using the nickname Phoenix gave you." Cole chuckled.

"What can I say? My Flower needs her Sonny days," Kai smirked, then grinned at Kiku tenderly. "this is amazing news, I'm so happy!"

"Phoenix and Aruna are now Yin-Yang Promised, Zane and Pixal are leaving the temple, and Kiku is staying in the temple," Lloyd summarised. "anyone else got something they wanna share?"

Jay anxiously fiddled with the ring box in his pocket. It was pretty much an open invitation for him to get down on one knee and ask Nya to marry him in front of everyone. But as much as he wanted the whole team to witness him baring his soul, he didn't want to steal Phoenix's limelight for asking Aruna to be his Yang; he wouldn't feel right doing it.

"Aruna," Magpie sang. "aren't you gonna say something?"

"What about?" Aruna tilted her head.

"About the bar…"

Aruna's face promptly lit up like a red traffic light. She awkwardly twiddled her fingers and glanced up at Phoenix shyly.

"Um, well, Magpie told me about an upcoming opening for a curvy burlesque performer at Feathers and Fire…" She nervously smiled. "…so, uh, she's gonna take me on as an apprentice so I can fill the position."

"Wow, does that mean you're gonna be wearing the sort of cute stuff that Magpie does?" Nya asked with a smile.

"Yes…"

"And shaking it around for the patrons of the bar?" Kiku remarked wickedly.

"Uh, yes…" Aruna nodded, batting her eyes at Phoenix. "I hope you don't mind darling…"

Phoenix didn't say anything; in fact, he appeared to have drifted off into his own little fantasy world, as he pictured Aruna wearing extravagant beaded bikinis, sheer black kimonos and exotic bustiers, glittering makeup, and confidently dancing on a stage… His eyes were hazy, and a wide smirk spread across his face.

"I don't think he minds," Cole laughed, giving Phoenix a rough shove to wake him up. "hey buddy, come back to earth."

"I'm here, I'm back!" Phoenix said, startled back into consciousness. "What were we talking about?"

"Your Yang wants to train to be a dancer at Feathers and Fire," Jasper confirmed. "Magpie's gonna teach her to do it."

"Really?" Phoenix grinned. "That's amazing, sweetness, I'm so proud of you!"

"Wait, you're not jealous or anything?" Kai raised an eyebrow.

"Not at all, in fact, I'm thrilled that my diamond feels confident enough to try it!" Phoenix put his arm around Aruna and pulled her close. "I've always thought you were beautiful, I'm glad you're starting to see it too."

Aruna sheepishly held her face and smiled.

"I'd be super jealous if random people were lusting after Nya." Jay declared with certainty.

"It was bad enough when Cole was doing it, right?" Lloyd snarked.

"Are you guys ever gonna stop mentioning that?" Cole asked in an aggravated tone.

"Aruna is my precious diamond, and if other people can appreciate her beauty the way I do, I'm not gonna react with jealousy," Phoenix maintained. "if they try to touch however, that's a different story…"

His wings reflexively spread out and one of them curled around Aruna defensively.

"Don't worry bro, I can teach her to handle unruly audience members," Magpie stated. "not that she needs it, I've seen her cobra face and it could put the fear of gods into anyone."

"Cobra face?" Jasper wondered aloud. "Is that like, an intense glare or something?"

"It's literal, Aruna's element allows her to transform into any animal at will, and this includes only transforming certain parts of her body," Phoenix explained. "the 'cobra face' is the manipulation of her eyes, fangs and tongue to make them serpentine in nature, to frighten off anyone she feels threatened by."

"She hardly needs anyone protecting her if that's the case, she seems quite adept at defending herself." Pixal mentioned.

"On the plus side, if the burlesque thing doesn't work out, she could very easily be a bouncer!" Lloyd joked.

"I agree, she's deceptively dangerous," Phoenix nodded. "goodness knows I'd love to see her take someone down."

"I wouldn't want to hurt anyone," Aruna commented. "I just want to stay safe while I try this new activity."

"Well Phoenix, it's time to go," Magpie asserted. "I have to be back in work tomorrow and you need to get resettled into your old routine."

"Okay sis, I'll go put my shoes on."

Phoenix stood up and walked out of the room to find his sneakers. While he was out of the room, Magpie and Aruna also stood up, then bowed to the team.

"I cannot thank you all enough for taking such good care of my darling Phoenix." Aruna stated.

"I agree, you all went out of your way to help my brother, and I fear I could never repay your generosity and compassion," Magpie added. "I'm so grateful to everyone."

"It was an honour for us," Pixal smiled. "he was an absolute treasure, and we truly love him as if he were our own."

"He's a respectful and decent individual, he worked hard at his training and even as a teenager, he remained dedicated and sensible." Zane nodded.

"Yeah, to be honest, it was kinda nice to have a little kid around again," Cole admitted. "and it was cool to bond with him on a different level than before."

Phoenix suddenly returned, with his shoes on and two large, elegantly wrapped boxes in his hands. He placed the larger box on the coffee table, and the other box at the feet of Zane and Pixal. Bowing deeply, Phoenix knelt down and spread out his wings at an angle befitting his humble pose.

"Please accept these gifts as a token of my appreciation for how well y'all took care of me." He declared.

He handed the box to his parents and encouraged them to open it with a wide smile.

Pixal and Zane gently removed the bow and ribbons from the top of the box and lifted the lid to see what was inside. Pixal gasped, as she pulled out a purple satin haori and admired how the fabric glittered in the light. Underneath the purple garment, was an ice blue one. Zane picked it up and turned it over to look at the back – embroidered in golden thread was the kanji symbol for love. Pixal noticed this and turned hers over too; and saw the exact same kanji.

"Ho-oh, these are beautiful!" Pixal beamed.

"As soon as I saw them, I thought of you both," Phoenix explained. "I have never encountered a love as strong as yours, and you've made me feel extremely loved as your son."

"Thank you, this is very thoughtful." Zane smiled.

Pixal leaned over and hugged him, very clearly on the verge of tears yet again. He hugged her back and smiled softly.

"I'm sorry I keep making you cry mama," Phoenix chuckled. "I swear I'm not doing it on purpose!"

"So… what's in this one?" Kai asked, pointing at the bigger box.

"Open it and find out." Phoenix grinned.

Excited, Jay eagerly took off the bow, and tore through the colourful paper, then opened the plain brown box beneath. Phoenix tried so hard not to laugh at the blush that slowly swallowed Jay's face. Inside the box, was another box, containing a professional grade stripper pole.

"I saw the other one you guys had in the closet, and before I got my memories back, I thought y'all had put it in there because it wasn't sturdy enough," Phoenix explained. "so, I bought this proper one for you to use; Kiku can set it up, I'm sure."

Kiku's eyes widened at hearing Phoenix call her by name – he'd done it as he was growing up, but now his memories had returned, and it was the first time he'd ever purposely used her name, rather than a nickname. She beamed and nodded enthusiastically.

"You can't be serious!" Jay stammered.

"C'mon Jay, don't be so boring!" Cole stated. "It's more fun than most of the training we have to do, and remember what I said about knowing how to move the body being useful for more than just fighting…?"

Nya sensed his reluctance and chimed in with her own opinion.

"Well, I think it's a great idea…" Nya purred, giving Jay a subtle wink. "I didn't get a chance to have a go on the other one before it got shoved in the closet."

"Yeah, it could be good to do something different as far as training goes…" Jay eventually agreed as his cheeks turned pink.

"Also, maybe look underneath it." Phoenix smirked.

Curious, Jay did as suggested, and lifted the box containing the stripper pole. His eyes lit up, as he saw a familiar logo on another box and gasped.

"You can't be serious!" He repeated with stars in his eyes.

"Hey, if I'm going home, you guys need to practice on the pole by yourselves," Phoenix clarified. "this will help you achieve proper form and gain confidence."

Kai peered over Jay's shoulder to see what all the fuss was about; it was a brand-new games console. Complete with a handful of games (including Just Pole Dance 3), the console came with a limited-edition casing, and extra controllers.

"Dude, no way!" Kai exclaimed. "This is so awesome!"

"Wow, this is really generous," Lloyd announced. "are you sure it's okay for us to accept this?"

"I've never had such a wonderful, caring, smart, strong, and benevolent group of people around me for a regeneration, and I wanted to show my gratitude somehow," Phoenix insisted. "I know it's not much, but-."

"It's perfect!" Jay squeaked as he gave Phoenix a big hug. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome." Phoenix chuckled.

Phoenix pried himself free from Jay's grip and stood up.

"Thanks again everyone, this has been the best regen cycle ever," He gave a sentimental smile. "I'll see y'all again soon no doubt; my bestie lives here after all."

Cole winked and offered his clenched hand for a fist-bump, which Phoenix accepted without hesitation. He smiled so widely that his face started to hurt.

Before he headed towards the front door – with Aruna and Magpie in tow – Phoenix took one last look at the amazing people who had been there for him when he was vulnerable, who loved him and took care of him as if he was part of their family, and he felt his heterochromatic eyes welling up with tears.

"See y'all later!"

And that's it! Goodbye to the Phoenix arc! Some of y'all are probably happy to see this finished so I can move onto another thing, but I do have an epilogue if anyone's interested :3