The boy runs down the street as fast as he can move. He knows where the ninja are, and his only goal is to reach them in time. He doesn't stop running, gaining stares from passers-by, but he doesn't care, and keeps moving. He bursts into the coffee shop, searching the room for the heroes he needs. The child spots the ninja in the back corner of the coffee shop, and he weaves his way towards them, carefully dodging around tables and chairs. He reaches the table and stops to regain his breath. The boy in red immediately pulls a pen from his pocket and smiles at the panting boy before him, but the girl next to him elbows his arm, and he brings his hand back in, tucking the pen into a pocket in his ninja suit. The ninja in black looks at the small boy before them and asks,

"What's the matter, kid? You ran down here pretty quick." He sounds genuinely concerned, and the boy gasps for breath before stuttering,

"You have to come quickly, you need to help her." The ninja are all confused, but follow the young boy out of the coffee shop. He sprints back through town, and the ninja run after him. He's abnormally fast for his age, and the ninja have difficulty keeping up with him. The boy leads them to an alley, just one of the hundreds in New Ninjago City. The six ninja all notice the increased number of people crowding around, and their concerns grow. The crowd partially separates, and the boy in blue pushes through, followed closely by the girl, who gasps as she sees what is in front of her. The other ninja struggle to push through the crowd, and a woman's voice calls out to them,

"You have to help her, her wrists are bleeding!" The four remaining boys try to shove through the crowd blocking them from the girl they had to help. The only female ninja rushes back to the ninja in green, and orders him in an undertone,

"Keep Kai back, he can't see this, it'll tear him apart." The green ninja nods, but still struggles through the crowd. He repeats the message to the ninja in black, and together they try to keep the red ninja from reaching the front of the crowd. The ninja in white manages to get through the crowd, and even he gasps at he sight before him. The red ninja shoves through the crowd despite his friends' best efforts, and he drops to his knees beside the girl before him. The redhead's sleeves are stained the same colour as her hair by scarlet blood, and the red ninja's heart throbs painfully. Skylor.

Chapter 1

Kai holds Skylor in his arms as her wrists continue to bleed and the other ninja try to calm the crowd around them. Lloyd pulls his phone from his pocket, dialling the emergency number and within minutes an ambulance pulls up at the mouth of the alleyway, shrouding some of the crowd in darkness and cold. Two paramedics rush out the back of the vehicle, followed by another from the front of it. This is the first time that anyone in Ninjago has seen the red ninja cry, and many others join his sobs with their own. As Skylor is pried from his grip by the paramedics, Cole and Nya attempt to hold Kai back. Skylor is put into the back of the ambulance, and Kai pulls himself from the grips of his sister and friend. He runs after the ambulance, determined to follow it at the same speed until the vehicle came to a stop at the nearest hospital. It soon does, and Skylor is rushed in. Kai tried to follow her, to hold her hand, to make sure she survives, but he is held back by members of the hospital staff. The last he sees of the girl is her body being hurried to a ward, and Kai wonders if he'll ever see his girlfriend alive again.

It's two days until Kai is allowed in to see Skylor. She had been unconscious for over 24 hours, but had finally woken up, relieving the hospital staff and the ninja alike. Kai was there by her side most of the time, whether she was awake or not, as she kept shifting uneasily between the two. Kai was hardly sleeping now too, because if Skylor wasn't okay, nor was he. Even now, he sat beside her bed, holding her hand tightly in his, though not tight enough to cause her pain or discomfort. Her wrists were bandaged securely, as they had been since the incident 2 days ago, and neither of them knew how severe the cuts on her wrists were. All they knew about them was that the slits were not deep, but were long and thin, and that they had caused Skylor to pass out from pain, shock and blood loss. The other ninja occasionally came to see Skylor, but none of them came as often as Kai, who would go down to her room every day, checking on her. No one knew if she would drop at any moment, but the doctors claimed Skylor's condition was improving daily. Skylor, on the other hand, felt like she was deteriorating, fading out of existence and into the dark void beyond, and the only thing that could pull her away from the edge of the bottomless ravine of death was Kai's frequent visits. She had to see him if she was going to heal. Without him, she was nothing, and Kai felt the same way, with or without his elemental power. Around a week passes after the incident before either of the couple screw up the courage to ask about the life-threatening circumstances that Skylor has been in.

"So," Kai nervously pipes up, "what happened that drove you to this point?" He is evidently deeply concerned about Skylor, and it warms her heart to see that someone cares for her. The redhead tries not to get distracted or let the emotion show, however, and pushes a confused expression onto her face.

"What do you mean?" she asks, and Kai raises his eyebrows, motioning towards her arms and wrists.

"Oh, those." The girl slowly nods once, and Kai sharply mimics the action. Skylor takes a deep breath before starting to answer his question.

"It wasn't me. I didn't do it."