I've been wanting to write Zane stories for a while, but I've never really known what to write about until I got an idea. Something that I'm sure people have written about before, but it doesn't hurt to give my take on it, does it?

So, I give to you, the first of my Zane/Zane and Pixal one-shots. "Guilt," which is set right after season 11. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago


Zane woke up, panting for breath. How could he? Why did he? Where was he? Zane scanned his room for any signs of a threat or of a particular dangerous object, but there was nothing.

"It was just a dream," Zane sighed happily, but he wasn't happy in the slightest.

He couldn't help but think about his dream. He was back in the Never-Realm. Back in the place he lived a life of tyranny for sixty years. In front of Zane was the green ninja. Lloyd. He had come to save him, but Zane let the scroll overtake him, and he killed him! As Zane looked back at "his royal advisor" he saw the clear look of evil printed on his face. And that was when his other friends ran into the room, horrified at what he had done. Pixal was with them too. Zane's breath became shaky as he thought about the look on their faces. Especially Pixal's. Their looks snapped Zane out of whatever madness the scroll had put him in, and he threw it away. He then walked over to his dead brother. The one he had killed. And cried. And the worst part was, it wasn't just Lloyd he lost. He lost all of his friends. They hated him, and he didn't blame them. Even if that was just a dream, Zane couldn't help but hate himself for all of those years of misery he put all of those people through. Conquering and destroying. Enslaving and imprisoning, and no one deserved it. He only did it because Vex told him too, and he hated that he let himself listen to Vex's wicked lies.

One week of freedom from the bonds of the scroll didn't fix anything. In fact, it made it worse. The longer it had been since he destroyed the scroll, the more he cared. Caring was a good thing, but Zane couldn't help but find himself crying from time to time. Especially when he saw the snow. That made him feel the worst. The snow he caused in the Never-Realm wasn't beautiful. It was deadly, and Zane had caused it.

He had now been in Ninjago for less than a day and still hadn't told Pixal and Wu about what happened. He knew that the other ninja hadn't said anything either since he hadn't been kicked out yet, but that was what he deserved.

Zane took a deep breath before he sat up from his bed and quietly walked outside. He was careful not to wake his brothers as he made his escape. They couldn't know that he was leaving. Even if they did still care, which wasn't the smartest thing to let yourself feel towards someone like him, he couldn't be with them. Especially if he was just going to end up hurting them. What if the scroll had some lingering effects after he let go that they didn't know about? At any moment, he could lose control, and that was the last thing he wanted. But he didn't want to hurt the people of Ninjago either once he left. What else could he do? Shut himself off? Someone could just as easily bring him back. Zane didn't know what to do, so he found the closest solid object he could find, which just so happened to be a tree outside of the monastery, curled up under it and cried. Maybe not the most dignified, but he didn't want to do anything else.

"Zane?" the female android's voice rang in his ear only a few moments later. What came with it was a panic attack.

Zane's breath became incredibly shaky as he cried harder. All he could think was that he wanted it to stop. He didn't care what it was that stopped, but he needed it too, so he could feel better. He couldn't stop thinking about that dream and times he actually did that to the people of the Never-Realm. It felt like forever until he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he flinched away. If he lost control-

"Zane!"

A figure suddenly made its way into Zane's sight. He blinked rapidly a couple times before he realized that it was still Pixal.

"Zane, why are you crying?" Pixal was genuinely worried when she asked this. Something that actually surprised Zane.

"I do not deserve you, Pixal," Zane struggled to keep the tears at bay as he said this.

Pixal didn't seem to understand.

"Where is this coming from?" she asked. "You have stuck with your brothers time and time again. You sacrificed yourself to defeat the Overlord, and you saved Wu only two weeks ago! Your insight and quick decisions have saved this team from destruction on multiple occasions, so how could you ever believe that you do not deserve me! It is I who does not deserve you."

Zane took a deep breath. He had to confess.

"In the Never-Realm, there was a-a tyrant. He called himself the Ice Emperor, and he cursed the entire realm with an eternal, harsh winter for a long time. Anyone who stood against him was punished in horrifying ways. Sometimes he would freeze them in giant blocks of ice. Other times he would impale them with more ice. If he didn't like a certain tribe of people or viewed them as a threat to him, he would send his dragon to destroy the entire tribe. Some were only frozen and restored once the ninja finally defeated him, but some of the tribes were driven to extinction," Zane explained.

"But what does that have to do with-?" Pixal asked.

Zane clenched his fists as he said, "I...was the Ice Emperor." He lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly to avoid the tears from flooding out more than they already had, but it was futile.

He waited anxiously for Pixal to say something. Anything. But she remained silent. For a moment, Zane was afraid that she left. As another panic attack threatened to take over, he looked up to see Pixal looking at him, her eyes filled with sorrow.

"You were holding the Scroll of Forbidden Spinjitzu when you were blasted into the Never-Realm," she put together. "It corrupted you."

Zane lowered his head once again, knowing what was about to come next. Pixal would become afraid or angry. She would leave him and tell Master Wu, and he would be exiled to who knows where. He was pleasantly surprised, though, when Pixal did not do that. Instead, she confused him greatly by saying, "Why are you acting in this manner? It is almost as if you believe that it was your fault."

"It was my fault!" Zane raised his voice slightly as he snapped. "Yes, the scroll does corrupt whoever's using it, but that does not mean that I did not do those things! That does not change all of the deaths I am responsible for! All the broken families! Everyone who grew up knowing that if they got too close to the castle, I would be the one to prevent them from ever going home! And it wasn't just a story or a rumor, Pixal! All of this was true!"

"You are correct," Pixal said. "That does not change a single thing, but that is not who you are. You are still the kind, selfless Zane that I have always known, and I can see that has not changed. Even the fact that you feel guilty, when most villains you have faced do not, shows that you are still you, and nothing can change that."

Zane paused a moment as he thought about what she said, but he couldn't help but to envision all those people he hurt.

"What I did-" Zane began.

"You would never do again," Pixal said as she looked at him. "You are no longer controlled by that horrible scroll. You're just...Zane," she smiled.

Zane smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You won't feel better right away," she explained. "I'm sure that it will take a long time for you to be able to forgive yourself, but it is not a journey to take alone."

Zane nodded as he positioned himself next to Pixal and leaned his head on her shoulder.

She sighed as she began caressing his cheek as she continued saying, "I am sorry that you had to go through that for so long."

Zane looked up slowly so that he was now looking Pixal in the eyes for the first time since he had arrived the previous day. He missed seeing the beauty in them and was nearly brought to tears when he realized that he was finally back in the reality he loved. The one where he was himself, with Pixal. Finally able to feel understood.

"Does this mean that you still love me?" he asked nervously.

"I could never stop loving you," Pixal replied with a smile. "Even if I tried."

"Good." Zane said. A wave of relief washing over him. "I love you too," he said before he planted a kiss on her head.

Pixal smiled at the contact before she responded with a quick kiss on the lips.

"Please, don't hesitate to come to me if you are ever feeling this way again," she told him.

"Of course," Zane answered.

Zane knew that it would be a journey. That he wouldn't feel better right away, but Pixal was still with him. She still loved him, and he knew that as long as he had that, he could make it through.


Zane is a character I usually have a really hard time writing in-character, so I hope I did well, and that you guys liked that. I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review telling me what you thought. I don't have a lot of ideas for Zane stories I could write so any ideas given would be a huge help as well. I'll, of course, credit you in the author's note before the one-shot.

As always, have a great day/night!

#God'sNotDead