AN: Shout-out to that one Guest who seemingly reviewed three different stories in the span of three days! Your reviews rock, my friend! I'm glad you're liking these stories. If you ever get an account, hit me up so we can chat. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter! I sprinkled several hints in here to what's coming, so see if you can spot them, and enjoy!

Nya tracked Zane down easily enough, seeing him as soon as she peeked into the kitchen. He was standing at the counter, staring somewhat vacantly at his hands placed on the countertop, like he was completely in his world.

Or, maybe, like he was completely in the Never Realm. Nya gave a quick shudder. Then she refocused, tossing a casual smile on her face and stepping into the kitchen.

"Hey," Nya greeted with a smile.

Zane turned to face her slowly, blinking at her.

"You know, I thought you might've wanted to see that movie Jay, Cole, and Lloyd are checking out," Nya said after a moment of futilely waiting for Zane to greet her back.

Zane gave a tiny shake of his head.

"Really? It's supposed to have a great storyline, some cool action scenes, a bit of humor, all the good stuff. The science in it is even supposed to be mostly credible, if you can believe that, a science fiction movie that's more science than fiction," Nya said, forcefully keeping her tone as light as she could. "Some pretty feasible technology, a couple of hackers who actually seem to really hack rather than brute-force their way into stuff, that kind of thing."

Zane frowned slightly.

"Yeah, I almost went myself," Nya said, trying to interpret that frown and settling on Zane wondering why Nya didn't go herself if the movie seemed so good. "It sounded really interesting. But then I thought, you know, it might be worth hanging out around here, especially since you decided to hang out here already. Maybe we could do something together. What do you think?"

Zane's lips parted.

Nya gave an internal cheer. She hadn't heard more than a sentence or two out of Zane a day yet, but maybe he was finally getting ready to open up. Maybe they could talk, really talk.

Zane closed his mouth again and shook his head.

Okay, well, that wasn't speaking, but it was better than nothing, Nya decided. The head-shaking wasn't ideal, though. "Are you sure?"

Zane nodded.

"I'd really like to do something together, though," Nya pushed a little. "If we did, if you felt up to it, what would you want to do?"

Zane shrugged and jerked his head toward Nya, a "you pick" kind of motion.

Nya groaned inwardly, but outwardly, she kept a smile. Maybe she could pick something he'd actually do? Reading? Cooking? Training with their elemental powers... Nope, that one was right out. She still didn't know how to talk to him about being able to use ice. Maybe he'd be up for something else, though? "You know, I'd-"

A fast, urgent tune interrupted her from her pocket.

Nya fumbled for her phone, pulling it out as the same time Zane put a hand to one temple. Looking down, Nya groaned outwardly this time before reporting, "Trouble in New Ninjago City, at 131912 Register Street. Something weird going on, something about magic and mayhem and… Wacky stamps and wooden spoons? Or something? But it's supposed to be urgent."

Zane nodded sharply, one hand still at his temple, likely reading through the report inside his head. He looked tense, and Nya hated that. He didn't look at all ready to go fight, and that Nya was okay with, if only because she wasn't ready for him to go out and fight either. Zane could stay back and continue recovering. She could handle this alone.

"No worries, I'll take care of it," Nya said decisively, slipping on the hood of her suit.

Zane raised his eyebrows at her and slipped his hood on too.

"You don't have to come," Nya offered, heading for the door swiftly as the anticipatory rush of the upcoming battle began to sweep through her. "It'll be fine. You haven't been back for all that long, and I'd like to-"

"And you would like to handle an unknown threat alone," Zane said quietly.

Nya faltered mid-step. She looked back at Zane to see him only a pace behind her. "You have a good point there. Yeah. Probably wise not to go alone. But I can call in some help. Sure, Kai, Pixal, and Wu are halfway across Ninjago, but Lloyd, Jay, and Cole are just at the movies. They're, well, they probably have their phones silenced, because it's a movie, but I could go get them. And find them at the right theater. Somehow. Quickly. Quick-ish."

Zane stared at her pointedly, then he looked down at her phone and back up at her.

Nya looked back down at her phone, reading the end of the message. "Right. Urgent. Okay."

She searched for another reason or resolution, but she couldn't find one, not with the thrumming of urgency in her body and not with Zane staring at her expectantly. She didn't know what mindset Zane was in, but after what she knew about his time in the Never Realm, having him go fight in any situation, much less an unknown situation, seemed like a frankly terrible idea. But what choice did they have?

"Okay," Nya said again, trying to ignore the sick feeling growing deep in her stomach. "Let's go."