Paige laid a cold rag on Homura's forehead while the boys watched from a distance. Sensei Cole had been none too pleased that the four had snuck out against his orders, but he allowed them to take care of their injuries before giving them a stern lecture. Just seeing the amount of torture inflicted on his youngest student made him decide to teach the team better whenever the fire wielder woke up.

Seth had filled his father in on the wild rescue they had gone on after he had taken Homura to the medical bay. Paige stayed there and sat by her side, trying to help her fever break and her condition to steady out. She had cleaned the dried blood and applied ointment to the cuts and bruises, then bandaged them up. Unlike his father, Seth could actually cook, so he had made some chicken noodle soup for Homura.

"I can stay with her for a few minutes. Father would like you and Brook to spar with Karl some so he can learn more about his abilities," Seth commented as he held onto the bowl. Paige nodded her head and laid the bowl of cold water on the table.

"Make sure to keep the rag on her forehead. It will help break her fever, and hopefully wake her up," Paige responded as she grabbed her shurikens and headed out to the training yard. Seth nodded and watched as she left before turning his attention to Homura. The way her face looked now that all the stress was gone, made Seth smile. Through everything she had been through, she deserved to smile. He pulled the spoon out of the soup and whispered.

"Here, Homura. I made you some soup. It'll help you get better, just open up," He whispered and gently brought the bowl over to where Homura could hold it. The fire wielder's eyes opened slightly. She opened her mouth and Seth placed the spoon in, nodding at her. He laid a hand on hers, and placed the spoon into the bowl. "Hey there, sleepy head."

Homura flashed a small smile. "Thanks…" she rasped, coughing. Seth sat her up and rubbed her back until the coughing ceased. The fire wielder panted, her face flush as she took the spoon with her shaky hand and placed another bite of soup into her mouth.

"After everything that's happened, it's good to see you smile. You deserve to be happy, Firecracker. Don't ever forget to smile; it looks good on you, and besides, you can't live life clinging onto one event in the past; how will you ever move forward and become a better person?" Seth recited. A chuckle escaped the fire wielder's lips.

"Very nice, Rocky. Tell me, did you write all that down, or did it just so happen to come out that way?" Homura light-heartedly jibed at the earth wielder. A light blush dusted Seth's cheeks as he placed a hand on his neck and rubbed it, chuckling nervously. Homura placed the now empty bowl on the table and stretched. "I wanna get out of bed; being bedridden sucks."

"Hmm, maybe I can arrange that," Seth replied, taking his hand away from his neck and fidgeting with something in his pocket. Maybe it was too early to give her what was in his pocket, Seth didn't really know, he had never been good with timing things. He offered his hand to Homura who took it. She grabbed the bowl off the table and began to head out, Seth in tow. "Paige will hate me for this…but it's worth it."

Homura rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen. She placed the bowl into the sink and then turned, waiting on Seth. Once he caught up, she walked towards the training yard, a smile on her face despite the fever she was still running. The sweet smell of midsummer air hit her nose, and the breeze blew her locks behind her. Seth appeared beside her, and she looked up, wishing to run her fingers through his curls, but turned her attention to the spar at hand.

"For someone with two elements, you are quite the fighter, Karl," Paige was saying as Homura caught her eye. Brook ran over and hugged his cousin, ruffling her hair and picking her up and throwing her. Laughter filled the courtyard as the five hugged each other triumphantly. The laughter was cut short when Cole hit his staff on the ground, clearing his throat.

"Seeing how reckless you all were," Cole started. The four teenagers, minus Karl, immediately went silent, looking at their feet. "I see it fit to ground you all into doing nothing but training for the rest of the month," he turned to look at Karl. "However, I have given this much thought, and have decided to cut that punishment in half. Two weeks of training, and then there is much more to teach you five since the darkness is closing in."

He left, letting the five breathe out the breath they didn't realize they were holding. Brook looked at the others, a smile beginning to form on his face.

"Guys, this is just the end of one adventure! Think of all the others we can go now that we're actually ninja!" He began to jump up and down from his hyper nature. He saw Homura look down, and Karl look towards the door of the monastery. "Homura, we'll find him, I promise, even if it takes us till the end of our days, we'll find your father." He turned to Karl. "What happened to your parents?"

Karl shook his head. "I…honestly don't know. All I can remember is that I was about six when they dropped me off at my grandparents' house and never returned," he commented, absentmindedly fidgeting with his belt tie. Paige, Brook, and Seth each shared a look with each other before putting their hands on top of each other's.

"This is just the start. Like Brook said, we'll find Kai, and we'll find your parents, Karl. We're a team now, and we will carry each others burdens," Seth added, glancing at Homura and Karl. The two elementals made their way over and placed their hands on top of the pile.

"Thanks guys, y'all are the best," Karl smiled and hugged them.

Now that Cole had assembled the next generation of ninja that, with proper training, could protect Ninjago and its citizens, the time began to tick down as Adekave continued his plan to track down the elementals. The ticking time bomb began to ever creep slowly towards Doomsday.

A/N: We have come to the end of the first installment of my Ninjago NG series. Thank you to all who have managed to read through my jumble of thoughts that have somehow become a story. I want to thank crunchy_toast201 on Instagram for letting me use Karl in this timeline, and to _GalactixMay_ on Wattpad for editing my miserable grammar into something actually presentable! Until Book 2, I'll see y'all later!

Hexic