A/N: Weird that this is my second update in three days. Huh. On another note, I've basically started civil war in a D&D campaign yesterday.

Anyways, enjoy!

Part 7- Not One Light

Lloyd flew towards the blue-clad figure on the rooftop of an apartment building in Ninjago City. It had only been a day since his return, but everyone still found it hard to believe he was alive. All except for Nya, who was getting tons of stuff for knowing for two months and not saying anything to anyone. She had managed to divert some of her attention over to Ronin.

"Thought I'd find you here," said Green to Blue as he recalled his Dragon.

"I am a bit predictable, aren't I?" Jay chuckled. Lloyd smiled sadly. Two months without him had changed the whole team. The mood quickly changed to somber.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lloyd asked. "And for this discussion, Ronin and Nya don't count."

Jay averted his eyes. "Am I just the expendable one?"

"Jay! No one is expendable!"

"Kai seems to think otherwise."

Lloyd straightened slightly. "Then I guess I'll have to have a talk with him later. Jay, we need you on the team. It's too quiet without you. No one laughed. We rarely talked with each other. The TV was never turned on. Dinner was silent. For two months, Jay. You're the life and soul of the team. Things never get dull with you around."

"And I'm sure that things would've been just as quiet if Kai or Zane or even you had tripped," Jay argued.

"Jay, it would not have," Lloyd argued back. "Because you would've been there. You would've been telling everyone what a great friend they were. You would've been sharing your favorite memories of them. None of us… none of us, did that. You would at least give cause for remembering the fallen hero. None of the rest of us can do that, Jay.

"And you can forget using the excuse of being the expendable one. No one is expendable. Not even you. In fact, Jay, I'd say you're the courageous one."

"Courageous?" Jay asked, blinking.

"Yes, courageous. Jay, who else can stare death in the eye and somehow get everyone laughing at the same time? No one. Courage, Jay is standing up to our fears, and I know perhaps a little too much about those."

They looked back over the city, Lloyd deep in thought and Jay just staring at the banners on the buildings. The familiar "#NeverForget" stared right back at him. All that for him.

"You affect us all, Jay," Lloyd said softly. "Both for better and for worse."

Jay laughed. Oh, how Lloyd missed that laugh. How the world had missed that laugh. The laugh that was always sincere.

"Now c'mon. I think Zane's making lunch."

The biggest change in the Monastery was that they now fell silent quickly whenever Jay laughed. They never again wanted it to leave the world.

A/N: Well, that was fun. Hope y'all enjoyed Expendable and Courageous! If you want to see what else I posted this week, check out my one-shot Titanium Hearts.

Reveiw!

~NG