Lloyd knew he should be happy. After all, they stopped the resurrection of his father, he was finally reunited with his mother, and everyone was safe. But at the same time, his heart still hurt.

He had told Harumi to save her pleas for someone who cared, not wanting her to get any satisfaction from hurting him any more. But he...he did still care, even if it was in the tiny corner of his heart that still wanted to see the good in her and to believe that she wasn't all bad, he still cared.

"So, which one beat the crap out of you?" Jay asked, putting his hand on his shoulder, "was it the big one? Kilo?"

Lloyd honestly couldn't remember which one had wailed on him given the stress of what had happened after he was locked in a cage for…'how many times have I been taken by the enemy?' but Kilo sounded right. 'Definitely him or Ultra Violet. After all, Rumi didn't ever get her hands dirty.'

"I'm such an idiot," Lloyd voiced, finally letting out what he had been thinking, "I trusted her. I should've known she was evil with how invested she was in my father."

"Lloyd, it's not your fault-"

"Her parents died because of me, because I opened that fucking tomb," Lloyd swore before making eye contact with Jay, "she said I was too naive to believe no one got hurt that day. How many others?"

"What?"

"Everyone kept me from seeing the death numbers after The Great Devourer… how many others got hurt? How many people died because of my actions?"

"Lloyd, I-"

"Jay, just answer me." Lloyd pleaded with the lightning ninja, although he prayed that the number was two. That he wasn't as naive as she said.

"28. 28 casualties."

"So Rumi was right," he tried to keep back the tears, but failed miserably as his eyes started to sting, "this whole thing is my fault."

"Lloyd, you were a kid when it happened. We didn't think it was okay to burden you with the numbers."

"I was a kid when I terrorized Jamanakai Village. I was a kid when I released the Hypnobrai and the Fangpires. I was a kid when I made the stupid decision to let out Pythor," Lloyd took in a shaking breath before looking back at Jay, "The Great Devourer, The Digital Overlord, Morro, Rumi...it's my fault."

"Maybe I should get Zane, or Kai. They're better at-"

"No!" Lloyd shouted, holding his hand out in protest which made Jay stop short, "please. I'm sorry, for yelling, just...please stay."

Jay nodded, and wordlessly walked forward before wrapping his arm around Lloyd's shoulder, letting him relax against it.

Lloyd continued to stare at the sky, the words his father offered him in Hiroshi's Labyrinth years ago ringing in his head. 'He who holds the power holds a tremendous obligation.' He just hadn't expected that obligation to be keeping him from coming back.

"The hurt isn't ever going to go away, is it?" Lloyd finally voiced, seeing Jay's face out of the corner of his eye, "Rumi, I mean."

"You know, it's hard to say," Jay started, which led the younger of the two to raise an eyebrow, "As time passes, and you make your peace with it, it'll fade. But sometimes, something will remind you of it or someone will say something in passing like, oh I don't know, suggesting that sky pirates are invading Ninjago, and it'll come rushing back."

Lloyd nodded, the memory of Jay telling him about how he and Nya went from a tense friendship to a romance because of a Dijin clear in his head.

"But, the good news is, you have us. And we will always be ready with video games, or pillow forts, or even just a hug when someone rips your scars back open."

Lloyd smiled, a single tear running down his left cheek that Jay wiped away before he got the chance. "Thanks, Jay."

"No problem, Green Machine. You should probably get that scratch looked at though." Jay added, gesturing to his own face

At that particular moment, his left cheek chose to throb, indicating that the scratch Jay was talking about. "I will."