A/N: YES! I KNOW THIS IS LATE! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! *hides behind refrigerator* But, to make up for the long wait, I doubled(Tripled?) the chapter length! Be prepared for cuteness, awesomeness and a little angst. Cuz I'm THAT type of writer.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except a half baked plot.

Previously...

It only took a moment, but it was with such intense pain it could have been forever and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. Shortly after, she lost consciousness and a flash of blue light brightened the room, then disappeared, leaving blackness to swallow the scene.

Zane had always been an early riser, even in the beginning of his journey with his brothers and Sensei Wu. Routine had always his way of grounding himself in craziness that comes with being a ninja. Cole had his obsessions with desserts, Jay had his video games, and Nya had her engineering projects like the Land-Bounty. He would wake before all the others, do his morning stretching session to loosen himself and to shake the last embers of sleep from his mind. But afterwards he would walk to the kitchen and start making breakfast. They had already established that Zane was the only one who could really cook anything more than a cup of tea, and Zane didn't mind. It was actually one of his favorite things to do and seeing his family enjoying his food was more than enough incentive to become the unofficial cook of the group.

This morning was different though. He had expected to be alone at this early hour, but it was not so. He check his internally chronometer. It was nearly 5:30 AM. No one else should be awake and around for at least another hour. Zane was at the island in the middle of the kitchen, looking through his cookbook when there was a knock on the doorway in front of him. Of course, he heard the figure coming and was assured by his sensors that it wasn't a intruder, but he was still surprised when he saw who stood there. It was the last person that he would think that would be up at this hour, considering what that person went through the past few days. Lloyd's father stood at the doorway and Zane made the first thoughtful observation of him since the man came to the monastery.

The first thing that he noticed that Garmadon looked older since the last he had seen him. There were now small stripes of white in his gray hair(Courtesy of Gwen no doubt) and there were a few more lines on his face. His stance was very similar of the sensei past, but definitely more relaxed and less like the aged man that had taught him and his brothers. He didn't seem nearly as serious and in the short time that he had been in the man's presence, he had smiled more times then Zane had previously seen altogether. He looked more like... a normal father without his robes and distraught expression that he seemed to have on most of the time. He was now wearing sweat pants and a purple shirt. His hair was frazzled, a lot like Lloyd's was whenever they woke him up before he combed his hair. (He had gotten a small obsession with his hair lately that everyone blamed Kai for.) Garmadon had grown out his hair a little, so that it curled around his ears, and his small sideburns had grown back along with a faint beard. He seemed to have just gotten out of bed or was woken up.

"I apologize if I woke you up, Sensei. I'm usually relatively quiet in the morning."

The older man waved Zane's apology aside. "No need for that Zane. I've always been an early bird, like you. My brother can attest for that. I just came to start on making breakfast for Gwen."

Zane nodded. "I am doing something similar, but for the rest of us."

Garmadon seem to notice, for the first time since coming into the room, that Zane was wearing an apron(Not the pink one) and had a book out in front of him. "Ah, well, in that case, would you be welcome to an extra pair of helping hands?"

Zane was caught off guard for a moment and blurted out, "You can cook?"

The man in the pajamas chuckled slightly. "Yes. I learned from my mother who was the only decent cook we had in our home and after she died, I took up the duties as chef. My brother and my father were horrible cooks and even when I married Misako she didn't make most of the meals in our house. I did." His eyes sparkled with early morning humor. "And there was no one else with me and Gwen. And I most certainly didn't want to eat raw rice no matter how many pouts a certain little girl gave me."

Zane laughed himself. "Of course you can cook in this kitchen. It was yours once after all. Anyone who has cooked for The First Spinjistu Master, Master Wu and Misako should allowed in any kitchen. Welcome, Sensei."

Garmadon bowed his head. "Thank you Zane. But I'm not a sensei any longer. That part of my life is now over. Mister is just fine or simply my name."

His statement surprised Zane. He had assumed that now 'Mr' Garmadon would go back to being the Ninjas' other sensei. But that was an issue for Master Wu and not him. "Of course, Mr. Garmadon. Would you like to begin? The others will being waking soon."

Garmadon nodded. "Tell me, had you ever made chocolate waffles with fresh strawberry jam?"

Even though Garmadon had asked him not to call or treat him as a sensei, Zane had sensed that he was about to learn from a master of cooking.

Lloyd didn't wake from his alarm clock, though he did wince when it went off. He hit the off button and rubbed his eyes. There is was again. The something that woke him up or rather what woke up his nose. Chocolate. Where did that come from? He turned on the lamp beside him, sat up and stumbled to his dresser to pull out his clothes. He looked back at the clock and say that it was about 5:50AM. Wayyyyyy, too early for getting up on a weekend in his opinion, but he just had to find what or who was creating that wonderful smell. The kitchen was a little walk from his room, but the smell got stronger with every step.

Finally he stepped through the threshold of the kitchen and the full load of chocolate and strawberries assaulted his sense of smell. The clatter of dishes and the repetitive beeping -was that the waffle machine?- let Lloyd know that Zane was in the kitchen. But Zane casually didn't make waffles for breakfast; that was Kai's or one of the other guys' signature move when they were stuck with breakfast duty. But there it was, a plate stacked high with chocolate waffles and the sweet smell of strawberries and sugar excited Lloyd's nose and child-like tendencies toward sugar.

Zane was talking out loud which was weird, because Zane didn't normally talk to himself when he was cooking, but then a familiar voice replied.

"Stir for five minutes, then grab a half cup and poor it into the bowl. Let it set in the fridge for 15 minutes." Lloyd's father instructed as he opened the waffle maker and used tongs to get the well cooked waffle and place it on a nearby plate.

"Dad?" Lloyd said as he walked up to the bar-top counter and sat in a chair. His father looked behind him and smiled at Lloyd. "Morning Lloyd. How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good. Though I woke up early due to something I smelled." He smiled and eyed the waffled close by. "Boy, do they sure smell good!"

Zane placed the strawberry jam filled bowl in the fridge. "And they appeal to your extreme liking of sugar, no doubt."

Lloyd snickered and blushed. "Yeah, that too."

"I'm not sure whether or not to be scared that both of my children have an intense liking to sugar that isn't all that healthy." Garmadon half- grumbled, shaking his head. "Your sister is obsessed with lifesavers and flavored gum, and is always trying to get me to buy them whenever I take her to the grocery store."

"Well duh! Lifesavers are some the best candy in existence!" Lloyd exclaimed, starting to daydream about candy.

"Ack! Now I have two kids that are candy addicts! Lloyd, I thought you outgrew this!" Garmadon complained, but with a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You kidding me?! I will never outgrow candy! It a part of me just like… like… Uncle Wu and his tea!"

"Are you criticizing my choices in beverage, nephew?" Asked said uncle who seemed to have appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. With a cup of tea in hand.

Lloyd looked like a deer in headlights as he snapped around in his seat. "No! I mean, no Uncle. I just was, uh..." He glanced at his dad with a look that said Help!

His dad rolled his eyes. "One word Wu. Candy."

Sensei Wu nodded in understanding. "Ah. Its fine nephew. As you were."

Lloyd let out a breathe that he didn't know he was holding. "Hey Lloyd, can you go check on your sister? She sometimes wakes up early and I don't want her to panic about waking up in a strange place without someone she knows." His father asked of him.

Lloyd nodded. "Sure I can do that. Save me a couple waffles!" And with that, he left.

Wu let out a deep breathe. With Lloyd gone, he could take to Garmadon about some sensitve issues. "Zane? Do you mind if I have some privacy with my brother?"

Zane put the spoon and the bowl he was stirring down and bowed his head. "Of course Sensei." He also bowed to Wu's brother before he left.

When Zane had gone, Garmadon put the dishes that he was washing down, wiped his hands off, all the while sporting a raised eyebrow on his face. "Now Wu, what's so important that you have to kick out my junior chef to speak to me?"

Wu took a deep breath and mentally calmed himself, mainly because that he knew his brother wouldn't want to talk about these things and might even overreact. "First, do you plan to stay here permanently, Garmadon?"

"Certainly, at least until we handle the evil version of myself so he won't keep on coming after me. There's also the whole Gabby thing that we still need to figure out. And the last thing I want to to separate from Lloyd and Misako, but…" He sighed. "I can't stay here forever."

"If its work related, then you can always come back to being a sensei." To be truthful, Wu had missed having his brother to lean on when they were both masters. It helped relieve some of the stress. But his brother shook his head. "I'm sorry Wu, but that's the last thing I want right now. I left the part of me that was a sensei in the departed realm. I've been a father for the past two years and frankly, I'm much happier that way. Living peacefully is its own adventure and Wu? Yes, being a sensei allowed me to help people, but I'm not the same man that I was before I died. That Garmdaon died and I changed. I'm new and I see things like continuously fighting against evil differently. Now I get why you and the Ninja must do this, but I don't believe that you need me to do that. Father had to fight because he created the realm and was responsible for its safety. He taught us to fight to protect ourselves, but that was a long time ago. He didn't have a choice and I don't want to follow in his footsteps in that way. I can't spend the precious time I've been given by just fighting evil after evil like we did in our youth. I have a daughter now, biologically mine or not, but I raised her. I held her when she had nightmares and kissed all her scraped knees. I fed her, I love her and did all the things her biological parents didn't have the guts to do. I am a father, husband and brother, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary in comparison."

Wu nodded. He didn't kid himself that he wasn't disappointed, but he understood his brother's position on this issue and he respected it. But there was one more issue to bring up and this would definitely set his brother off. And it was about Gwen.

"There's one more thing I want to talk to you, and its about your daughter."

Garmadon frowned. "What is it?"

Wu hesitated but dived in. "Misako came to me last night after you and Gwen had fallen asleep. She told me something about Gwen that concerned me."

"What was it?" Garmadon said brusquely again.

"Gwen had a nightmare last night, right before Gabby appeared that gave Misako the impression that it was a vision."

Garmadon's frown disappeared, but his eyebrow was still up. "So you got me worried about my kid on a hunch?" Garmadon dismissed it. "It was just a nightmare."

Garmadon went to turn away and finish the dishes. "Brother, when Gwen woke up she acted like it was true and she escaped Misako to where we saw her yesterday. She acted like she'd seen something like that before. Do you know if she has had nightmares like that before?" Wu tilted his head, looking at his older brother who had stopped washing dishes and stared into space.

Garmadon did remember a time like that. It was yesterday morning before they went to her friend's birthday party. She came down with tears in her eyes and a tale of woe from her dreams. Of him and his evil self, but at that point he didn't recognize it for what Wu was implying. The events afterward clearly point to the possibility that his brother was saying to him. But it filled him with dread and fear. He put the dish he was washing down in the sink. "No." He growled.

He looked up at his brother, his eyes faintly glowing purple. "My little girl does not have powers. Abilities like those have only torn this, my, family apart. First it was my pow-poison, second, Lloyd's gold and green powers, then recently my own powers which have returned. I have no idea what effect they'll have on me and now this? You nor I will encourage her in this and tell it to your Ninja as well."

"Brother…." Wu said in dispair. He knew that Garmadon would over react but he had hoped that his brother wouldn't go this far.

The purple faded from Garmadon eyes, and instead they pleaded at Wu. "Please brother. I don't want her to go through what I had to when I was her age."

That caught Wu's attention. Garmadon had been around Gwen's age when Wu was born. While they where children, he would often ask Garmadon about his life before Wu came along, but his brother would always go quiet and avoid the question. "I'm assuming it has something to do with your element? You never would tell me about the time before I was born."

Garmadon nodded. "I found my true potential at a very young age, and gained access to immense measures of power that rivaled Father, but one day he bound it. I could still do spinjitsu, but everything else was blocked off."

Wu was in shock. His father did that to his own son? That was supposed to be very painful and only to be used on a rogue element master, not a seven year old child! "What happened?" He choked out.

"I asked for it to be done, Wu. Father didn't want to but I begged him to do it."

"Why?" Wu asked. But just as his brother was about to say something, a voice called out, " Guess who's awake!"

It was Lloyd holding a sleepy-looking Gwen, half wrapped in a blanket. She waved sluggishly. "Hi Daddy."

Garmadon left the dishes and went to take Gwen from Lloyd's arms. "Hey baby girl. Did you sleep ok? No nightmares?"

She shook her head. "No Daddy. Just hungry."

He laughed quietly. "Lucky for you, I made your favorite."

The sleepiness in her eyes evaporated and those eyes widened.

"Chocolate Waffles and Strawberries?!" She squealed loudly in his ear.

"Yup. You ready to eat some?"

"YEAH!" And with that shout of excitement, Wu knew that he wouldn't get any more information about the disturbing truth that his brother just admitted to him for a while yet.

A few minutes later, the rest of the Ninja and Misako joined them in the kitchen for breakfast. "Hmmmm! Zane! Where did you cook this up? I've never had a better breakfast in my entire life!" Nya moaned in delight as she speared another chocolate waffle.

Zane smiled as he cut into his waffle. "I didn't cook this by myself. I learned from the master."

"But, no offense Sensei, Sensei Wu can't cook!" Jay exclaimed as he wiped some strawberry goo off his cheek. "Who is it? Cole, I bet its you!"

The earth ninja shook his head. "Nope, wasn't me."

"That is correct." Put in Zane. "And Jay, wrong sensei."

That reveal made Jay's eyes bug out and drop his fork. "Sensei G can cook?"

The man in question looked up from cutting up his daughter's waffle into manageable pieces and looked bemused. "Yes, I can Jay. How else do you think my brother has lived this long? Certainly not on his own cooking. Though he can survive quite a while just on tea alone."

The entire room snickered because it was sooooooo true. They had all witnessed it. Sensei Wu found it amusing too, but he didn't let his students see that. Instead he had on a frown, then decided the perfect punishment. "It looks like the Ninja have volunteered to clean up the courtyard for the next two hours." There was a outcry of gasping and groaning but none of them questioned it. Then a little voice spoke up. "Can Lloyd stay with me Sensei Wu? I need him." Gwen had looked up from her pancakes and caught Sensei Wu gaze. "That's fine Gwen. But might I ask what do you need him for?"

"Cuz I need him! He's my brother!" She said and went back to stabbing her waffle.

Sensei Wu smiled. "Ok Gwen. And since your Lloyd's sister you can call me Uncle Wu if you like."

"Ok, Uncle Vu!" Said Gwen, her mouth full of chocolate waffle.

Lloyd's pout brightened into a smile. Yes! He lent over to Kai and whispered, "Little sisters are awesome!"

Kai huffed. "Yeah, sure. Wait until they're twelve and they think they have everything and everyone figured out and give unneeded advice about your girlfriends."

Nya overheard him and promptly kicked him under the table all the while looking completely innocent. Now Lloyd wasn't so enthusiastic about having a sister. They're dangerous!

Kai sighed as he dumped some damaged roof shingles into a wheelbarrow. His sister was sweeping up the dust and smaller fragments, Zane was fixing the sensors around the monastery that got damaged in the attack and Cole and Jay were busy pasting new shingles on the roof. Everything was silent, but then Jay began talking. "So…..something been bothering me."

"Cole huffed from the hard work and in annoyance. "Now what could possibly be bothering you, Jay?"

"How is this even possible?"

Zane glance away from the control panel he was working on. "You'll have to be more specific, Jay."

"First of all, Lloyd's dad! How in Ninjago did he come back? And why is his evil alter ego still running around? And why did we never know he was a cook?"

Kai shook his head. Of course Jay's still hung up on that. Zane started to rationalize the whole situation with 'We don't know so no point in guessing.' but Kai was bored and this would prove to be interesting. "Hey Jay. Do YOU have any theories on any of this?"

Cole glared at him, but Kai ignored it and sat back, metaphorically speaking, to here what Jay-the-over-theorist had to say.

"Well, my first theory was time travel but I've got a better one! When Lord G first disappeared, somehow his Dragon self escaped his Oni self and Boom! Oni, four armed baddy, versus Dragon, our normal sensei!"

"But what about the fact that Sensei G has powers?" Nya asked.

"Actually Lloyd's father said to me this morning that he is no longer a sensei and to just called him 'Mister Garmadon' or by name." Zane put in as the circuit board sparked in his hands.

"Ok, that's gonna need some getting used to. Anyway, like I said that was just one theory. Its not perfect." Jay said as he shrugged. "I'm sure there are others."

A pause ensued, then Cole spoke up. "What if he's a clone? Or a ninjadroid?"

"I took the liberty to scan him for injures yesterday and last night. He is neither, but he is not human either. Not even a small portion." Mentioned Zane.

"Seriously? I'm mean, I know that Sensei Wu and Sensei G-Gah! You're right Jay, that's gonna take time to get used to- Sorry, Mr. G aren't all the way human, FSM and all that, but what about their mom? Wasn't she human?" Asked Nya, her curiosity perked.

Zane shrugged. "Apparently not. I did not find anything resembling human DNA in Mr. Garmadon, nor have I ever found such indicators in Sensei Wu. They are both built like humans or more specifically elemental masters, but their genetic makeup is something totally unique."

Kai raised an eyebrow at the new information. "So both senseis', sorry one sensei and one 'Mr.', are aliens? After all, their parents aren't native to this realm."

If Kai thought Jay's eyes bugged out at breakfast, then this time they grew to the size of Zane's shirikens. "Lloyd's dad and Sensei Wu are…. ALIENS?! I gotta go ask'em about this!"

Cole's arm snatched the running, blue ninja's hood. "And have a repeat of breakfast Jay?" He looked quizzically at his best friend.

Jay sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Don't want to risk the wrath again."

"Well, I'm thinking about the possibility that he's from an alternate reality. He's a little older than the last time we saw him, but that shouldn't matter in death or the Departed Realm or wherever he was." Nya suggested as she dumped the pile she swept into Kai's wheelbarrow.

"Hadn't thought about that. Good one Nya." Jay said, jumping down from the roof.

Nya smiled happily. "Thanks hubby-to-be!" Jay grinned and kissed her on the cheek.

Kai rolled his eyes. "And when's you're wedding so I don't have to deal with this much pre-wedding PDA?"

Jay shrugged. "We had originally planned to get the Lord G thing under control before we had the wedding, but with Lloyd's dad coming back and this Gabby person, we've decided to put it off until a more appropriate time."

"So the answer is a loooooong time Kai." Shouted Cole from the roof.

Kai shook his head. He knew the next few weeks would be crazy, but then again he's a ninja. He lives for crazy.

As it turned out, Gwen wanted Lloyd to hang with her because she was lonely. Lloyd turned into her babysitter when his parents went to go 'speak privately' and Uncle Wu went to go escort Gabby to Kryptarium prison and possibly get some answers out of her. With things how they are, Lloyd was perfectly happy with spending time with his little sister. They were in the middle of exploring the monastery when Gwen, who was holding his hand, asked to stop.

"What's the matter, Gwen?"

She looked hesitant, so Lloyd knelt down and looked her straight in the eye. "You can tell me anything. That's what big brothers are meant for."

She nodded. "Lloyd, I'm scared about leaving Daddy alone."

"But he's not alone. He's with Mo-Misako."

She sighed. "Yeah, but…."

Lloyd glanced at her, concerned. "But what?"

"But the last time Daddy was with someone I wanted to be my mama, she came in my dreams and hurt Daddy when I was awake!" Gwen exclaimed, squeezing Lloyd hand in desperation.

Lloyd's heart hurt when he realized who she was talking about. She had actually liked Gabby and wanted her as her mother! And when she turned out to be a villain, Gwen must have been devastated. "First, you know that Daddy can handle himself. Remember? He saved you last night with his, uh, special powers like mine! And Misako's not going to hurt him. She's his real wife and that makes her your real mommy, if you want her to be. I'm sure she would love to spend time with you." Then another curious thing occurred to him. "Gwen? What do you mean 'she came in your dreams'?"

Gwen looked sadly in his eyes and sniffled. "I dreamed about Gabby hurting Daddy and when I woke up it all happened like my dream!"

She had tears in her eyes, and Lloyd brought her in for a nice big brother hug. "I'm sorry Gwen. I didn't mean to make you cry. You are a very brave girl, did you know that? You're much braver than I was at your age." She sniffled into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "I thought you were always brave."

Lloyd struggled to stand up with her in his arms but made it anyway and started walking to the video-game room. "Oh no. I was scared of a lot of things when I was smaller. Like snakes and spiders and Kai!"

"Really?" Whimpered Gwen. "But he's like a teddy bear now."

"Yes, I was scared of Kai. He wasn't very happy with me when he first met me and he liked to yell a lot. But he warmed up to me. Pun intended of course."

Gwen laughed a little and Loyd knew that she was feeling better. She had given Lloyd a lot to think about and a lot to talk to his parents about, but he was just happy that she was feeling better.

Misako knew her husband well. Enough to sense the waves of aggravation and discomfort as she dragged him into his room to get changed and put Lloyd in charge of Gwen so she could talk to her stubborn husband. After he had gotten dressed,(She had never seen him in jeans before.) blue shirt, pants and boots, she asked him what was eating at him, though she had a hunch of what it was.

"Its something about Gwen." He admitted. Hah! She was right. "Wu told me about her dreams and the possibility of her having powers and I got upset. This type of thing is what tore our family apart from the beginning! It was the poison that made me abandon you and Lloyd, Lloyd had to fight me because of his power and now, my own element has returned and I'm feeling overwhelmed with it inside of me again! I just don't want Gwen to go through what the rest of us had too."

If Misako was concerned earlier, then now she was actually becoming scared. She recognized that look in her husband's eyes and had seen in too many times in the mirror. But never thought it would grace her husband's face. Fear, real, terrifying fear. Not even seeing Lloyd in space without a plan to get back home, had caused that type of fear to appear. "What do you mean about the resurfacing of your element? What's causing you to feel this way?"

He sighed. "Since it came back, I've been feeling it expanding, changing. Doors that were locked are now open and they have flooded my entire being. Its not just my element anymore, and its mixing with something else that I just can't quite name. Its like I've been aware of a certain level of my element, but then there's six more levels that have just made themselves known to me. Two sides of my being are being supercharged and I don't know why. I can't help but feel that I'm changing and I don't know whether or not it is good!"

There was a deep set panic in his eyes, that quickly faded as he closed them and breathed in deeply. He sighed and opened them again. "I just don't want something horrible to happen and it being my fault. Again."

She reach out, clasped his head then embraced him. "None of what you said was your fault. And you don't need to face this alone. I'm here, your brother is here and your children are here. We're here for you. And we'll never leave."

"I know." He whispered.

She stepped back and wiped a small tear from her eye. "Now, I was wondering if I could spend some time with Gwen. I want to get to know her and I want her to be comfortable with me. Also, I want to be a good mom this time."

He smiled softly. "Of course its alright with me. I want that too."

She nodded. "Thank you. Now what are you going to do? You're not going to pull a Lloyd and run away to deal with this on your own, are you?"

He raise an eyebrow. "He still does that? I thought he would have learned by now, that never works."

She laughed a lit bit. "No. He still hasn't. He tried that a couple years ago during the Sons Of Garmadon fiasco and attempted to face your evil counterpart alone."

Garamdon groaned loudly and smacked his forehead with his hand. "And I thought he could have some common sense from your side."

Misako smirked. "Sorry honey. His common sense was abandoned for reckless stubbornness. But he managed to get his father's charm with the girls."

This time, both eyebrows shot up with a surprised look on his face. "Lloyd has…?"

" I'm still not sure of their status but he does talk about her. Though she's not in this realm. She's in the Neverrealm and is a changling."

"What!?" Her husband exclaimed and Misako smirked and laughed. "You missed quite a bit while you were gone. I'll fill you in later. Or find someone else to do so."

She turned and started to leave her shocked and flabbergasted husband. "Bye honey! I'm off to spend time with your daughter!"

"She's yours too!" He called back. Then she smiled as he mumbled, "What type of crazy upside down world have I been resurrected too?"

Kai and the others had finally finished cleaning the courtyard and they had each gone their respective ways, him to go find Lloyd. He found Lloyd and Gwen in the video-game room playing Uno.

"And skip you, reverse back to me, skip you again, pick four and I change the color to green!" exclaimed Gwen as she placed down card after card. Lloyd groaned rather loudly. "Uuuuuugh! How are you so good at this? You've beaten me twice already!"

She shrugs. "You're just bad at it I guess."

At this point, Kai couldn't stay silent any longer. He laughed out loud and drew both Garmadon kids' attention toward him.

"Kai! How longer have you been standing there?" cried Lloyd.

He smirked. "Long enough to see your butt kicked in Uno by a eight year old."

"But I'm seven and a half! I'm not eight yet!" babbled Gwen.

He walked over to Gwen and squatted down next to her. "But you play like your older. You are very good Gwen. This guy," He patted Lloyd on the head, who glared at him, "Used to beat all of the rest of us at Uno. Especially me. I'm glad that you, all seven and half years of you, got to show your big brother who's boss in Uno. High five!" Gwen and him high fived in sight of a cross-armed Lloyd.

"Thanks Kai. Do you want to play?"

He thought about it. He didn't really had anything better to do, so he nodded. Lloyd dealt him in and they started. "By the way Lloyd, you should have heard some of the theories of how your dad's back."

"Oh really? What did Jay come up with this time?" He laughed as he put down a green six.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't Jay who came up with it, though he was the one who freaked out about it." Kai replied as he placed down a red six. "It was Zane this time." He whispered it into Lloyd's ear who started to laugh so much there was tears in his eyes. "Jay thought…. That my dad and Uncle Wu are….!? Oh, that's too funny! I'll make sure to tell them that!"

Kai grinned. "Ok, but don't tell Jay that I told you."

"Deal."

A few rounds in, Lloyd's mom came into the room. "Ah! There you are. I've been looking for you Gwen and Lloyd."

"You wanna join the game, Mom?" Lloyd asked.

"If its alright."

Gwen nodded. "You can come play with us, Lloyd's mommy."

Lloyd's mother sat down with the rest of them and Kai excused himself, saying that he needed to go, but he enjoyed playing with Gwen and Lloyd.

"Thanks for playing with me Kai." Said Gwen. She jumped up and gave him a hug around the legs. He smiled and lent down and hugged her back. "Your welcome Gwen." She let go and he looked down at her. "Anytime you want to play Uno, just come and find me."

"Ok!" Gwen said as she smiled brightly and then went back to her game.

Kai begrudgingly admitted to himself as he walked away, that the newest, little addition to the monastery was slowly growing on him. And though he wanted to keep up the act that he was the tough Fire ninja, he was glad of it.

Garmadon was walking the halls of the monastery looking for a quiet place to rest and to find out what else he had missed during, well, he didn't actually know but he'd find out eventually. He finally found a computer and set to get to work. He was humming a song to himself as he opened a browser.(See Lloyd? He did know how to navigate the Web.) Soon humming turned into words.

"You are the moonlight in the sky that I'm pursuing."

"You are the reason for what I'm doing."

"You are the crystalline that keeps me from my ruin."

"You are the movement."

"You're the true north pointing back home."

"You are the constant, my constellation."

"You're the steady hands of a ticking clock that I'll come to rely on."

He sang softly to himself as he typed, totally oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Ohhhhh, it's so clear come a little closer all of my love is right here."

"I just want to hear you whispering you still trust."

"You're the only thing that I have ever been sure of."

"I just wanna be where you are."

"I promise I won't let you down."

"Honey, it's so clear now."

He paused for a breathe, but then he heard someone else singing as well, but it was extremely faint.

"You are the four winds."

It stopped for a moment. He looked around to see if anyone was there, but quietly sang the next line.

"You're the catalyst of high hopes."

Then it started again. He was sure now that we wasn't hearing things.

"You are the beauty."

"The sparks revival."

He stood up silently, and wandered out of the room to follow the voice.

"You are the oxygen inside these lungs that's giving life to my bones."

It was leading him deeper into the monastery. He started to sing with the voice.

"Ohhhhhh, it's so clear."

"Come a little closer all of my love is right here."

"I just want to hear you whispering you still trust."

"You're the only thing that I have ever been suuuure of."

"I just wanna be where you are I promise I won't let yoooou down."

"Honey, it's so clear now."

There was a set of stairs, cut into the rocky foundation of the monastery that the voice led him down. One by one he stepped down, the voice getting louder with each step.

"It feels like heaven is coming down."

He reached the bottom. There was light.

"It's right here with me its all around."

He looked for the voice.

"I once was so lost but I am found."

He saw who it was. His eyes widened.

"When I'm with yooooou."

...

...

...

...

"Mom?"

She smiled. "Hello my little boy. I'm glad to see that you still remember our song."

The woman in front of him was glowing but that didn't hide her features from him. The brown hair with its gray streaks and its soft curls, the blue eyes with its loving sparkle, and the slender face with a patient smile. She had blue dress on and a small gold circlet in her hair that was tied back from her face. No shoes on her feet, but a small ring on her pinky finger. He was taller than her by a good six inches, and she was very petite, like he remembered her being when he was a child. She raised a hand to his cheek. Both of them had tears in their eyes. "Its so good to see you again, my son."

"Mom?" He could only choke out.

"Shhhhhhh." She said comfortingly, and drew him close. "I'm here, son. I'm really here."

He returned the embrace, his arms tightening as to never let her go. He tried to blink the tears away, but more managed to follow. "I missed you."

She rubbed his back. "I know. Oh my little boy, I know."

Then she drew back. "But I can't stay, my son. There is something I must tell you before I go. You have regained your element for a reason, my son. But the reason you seek in not in this realm."

She looked at him and smiled sadly. "You are so much more than you know, so much more than your past where I wasn't there. I'm sorry for leaving you and your brother and your father too soon."

Garmadon shook his head. "You died Momma. Please, don't blame yourself for something that you couldn't help."

"Ah, but son, I could have helped that. I could have lived longer, but my choices dictated it not so. I made a bad decision that got me killed and left you and your brother without your mother. For that I am so sorry. But have no fear. You will see me again. You need to find the truth, my son, before HE reaches you and your daughter and stops you."

"Who, Momma? Who is after us?"

"A man by who goes by the name of Akebeya. He will stop at nothing to prevent you from your quest. You must avoid him at all costs. To find the answers you seek of yourself you must find my tomb, my son. There is a tool that I left for you and your brother to find. It will lead you to my home realm. The Cloud Kingdom. Goodbye my son. I will see you soon."

She stepped back and the light brightened around her so much that Garmadon had to cover his eyes. When the light faded, Garmadon looked around. His mother was gone.

"Bye Momma."

A/N: BAM! DONE! Phew! almost 7000 words and I hit the 20000 word mark! Awesome! And now the ball is really rolling! Btw, the way you pronounce the bad guy's name is A-Kay-Ba-ya. Thank you all for supporting this story this far! Ps, the portions of the song that Garm and his mom were singing, are from "Clear" by NEEDTOBREATHE. One of my favorite songs, like, ever. Next time, a quest is on the horizon, and the B-team gets informed of what's occurred in the last couple days! Review!