AN- Warning! Contains sibling feels, an extreme crash scene, and a bit of blood is mentioned. Read at your own risk if sensitive to any of the previously mentioned.

1 Year Ago...

Aeria's POV

"Riri, please stop fidgeting in your seat." My mom, told 15-year-old me as I wriggled in my seat with a wrapped present in my lap.

"I'm sorry but I can't help it, I can't wait to see him."

"Listen to your mother, we will be there to pick up your brother soon and you should not be excited for where we have to pick him up from." Dad, chastised me as I looked down in shame.

"It was his friends who stole that stuff not him." I whispered to myself as I thought of my dad's words.

It had been 2 years since my now 18-year-old brother, Morro, had been caught stealing things on a bet from some of his friends and sent to a juvenile detention center. I had to watch with tears in my eyes as he was taken away by force by men in uniforms while I was told to go to my room.

"There he is!" I waved out the window to my brother who was on the sidewalk in front of the building with his bag in hand and the head of the juvie, Carl, with him.

"Morro," Mom rushed out of the car to bring him into a tight hug, "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes, mom." Morro eked out from his position squished in mom's grip while I sat in the car, giggling at his changing light blue face

"If you ever do anything like that again, we will ground you into the ground." Dad told him half-joking, half-seriously.

"Your son was a bit rough first coming in, but I believe his behavior is acceptable enough to warrant a return home." Carl told our parents as Morro got into the car to hug me.

"Hey, what's with the gift?"

"It's my friend's birthday today and we're on the way to the party now."

"The Garmadon kid?"

"Yup."

"He's a good friend?"

"The best friend, even though the other kids keep telling me to stay away because he's evil." I punctuated my sentence with air quotes, making Morro smile and lightly.

"You see the best in people, it's just your thing." He ruffled my hair to my dismay, so I tried to mess up his hair, until the car doors opened and made me stop.

"We will be sure to keep an eye on him from now on." Mom assured him as they got in, waving goodbye, and beginning the long drive home.

On the freeway into Ninjago, there was a long tense silence until Morro broke it with,

"I'm sorry OK, can you please stop giving me the silent treatment?"

"Look, we understand that high school was hard for you, but that's no excuse for you to skip school and steal from stores." Dad scolded Morro before Mom cut in with,

"We're trusting you to set a good example for your sister," The two turned around in their seats to face the two of us before Dad continued with, "and to be responsible enough to take care of each other when we're not around."

"I understand, just stop being so harsh on Ari, she was just trying to cover for me."

"We know, at least we don't have to worry about you two fighting all the time." Robert assured him.

"We cool bruh?" Mom tried to say in a "hip" way, but it just made the two of us burst out laughing before Dad asked in the same way,

"What, what's the dealio?" Making all of us laugh even more as we all forgot about what they had been discussing before.

As our laughter started to die down, I looked through the front window and saw that a large truck up ahead was seen tipping over, blocking half the street with its back.

"Look out!" I screamed, dropping the present in my lap to point up ahead, making Mom and Dad snap forward again.

"Turn turn turn!" Mom cried out as Dad started turning the steering wheel as far as it would go in an effort to avoid the truck.

Just as the car started to turn, another car's back hit the truck, sending it spiraling behind them and hit the car from behind making it flip over and roll down the street.

Meanwhile, inside the car, everything was moving in slow motion for me as the glass shattered from the windows all around me and the front airbags had deployed too late.

In all the slowed madness, I saw that Morro had, somehow, managed to loosen his seatbelt to where he dove toward me to engulf me in his arms protecting us as the car stopped rolling and skidded to a stop upside down.

Time resuming its natural course again, me and Morro were both hanging upside down in our seats, arms dangling over our head as we blinked dazedly and flashing lights were seen outside, wrenching the doors open.

A few minutes later, we were sitting on the sidewalk with one blanket set over both our shoulders, me leaning into my brother as he held me close, watching the ambulance that took their parents drive away. The truck driver that came to take our smashed car away came over to me with the crumpled present box I had dropped before the crash and handed it to me, which I half-heartedly accepted.

Blood dripped down from a cut over my eye while my brother's back was covered in mini scratches from taking the hits from the broken glass for me and all were painfully cleaned by another doctor who kneeled in front of us to work.

The two of us were asked questions by a police officer, but we just sat there holding each other in a dazed state before we were put into a car to drive to the station.

Later, as we sat in a cubicle an officer had told us to wait in, I finally moved, looking up to my brother asking with fear laced in my voice,

"What's gonna happen to us? I'm scared..."

Morro opened his mouth to answer, but decided to close it as he just held me closer, resting his head on top of mine as I started to fall asleep.

Right before I fell into a dreamless sleep though, I saw an officer come into the cubicle and ask my brother,

"Are you the new legal guardian of your sister?"

"Yes..."

A Week Later...

3rd Person POV

The day of the funeral was cloudy and rainy as everyone had dressed in black and held matching umbrellas over their heads. A few people had shown up, mainly friends and their parents of Aeria and a few of their mom's coworkers, all gave their condolences to Aeria and Morro before they left.

They two siblings had let the rain drench them to mask their tears as they stood between the two graves, until Morro insisted they leave, Aeria refusing to go, so he let her stay while he waited at the cemetery gates.

For a while, Aeria just stood there, eyes closed to stem her tears when she suddenly felt the rain stop falling on her.

She opened her eyes and turned around to reveal her best friend, Lloyd, holding his umbrella over her as she looked at him with gratitude in her eyes as she lightly smiled.

"Thanks..."

"Lloyd!"

They both turned to see that Lloyd's mom, Koko, was calling out to him from the sidewalk.

"Here..." Lloyd held out his umbrella to her and she took it before he turned to run off.

"Wait!" Aeria held out her hand to give him his, week-late, birthday present; a wrap-around leather bracelet with green beads and a silver yin yang charm on it.

"Th-thanks." He took the bracelet and put it on, smiling to see that it fit, before waving bye and running through the rain to get to his mom. Aeria stood there watching him leave before she decided it was time to go and walked to the gate to join her brother in their walk home.