6

"One more, and then we can head out of here." Ronin muttered to himself, walking to the restaurant at the end of the street. He didn't know much about this chick, but Nya and Lloyd were adamant that she would want to be invited to this shindig. Maybe she was especially close to one of the ninja. He couldn't help wondering who it had been.

He passed one of the many televised screens in the city. Ever since the ninja had been defeated, all the screens had been spewing Garamdon propaganda. Some segments described in detail the death of the ninja, including live footage of Lloyd getting thrown through walls. It was meant to keep the citizens in check—serving a painful reminder at the strength of their new self-proclaimed emperor. But Ronin had a feeling that the familiar, four-armed monster wasn't the true leader of Ninjago. His hunch was that Harumi, former princess turned sociopath, had the real control. At least that was the vibe that Ronin got from the whole situation; she was the one who made all the speeches and seemed to call all the shots. He wondered how long that dynamic would hold…he doubted that villains were all that good at getting along with each other. A sudden flashback came unbidden to his mind…the day he had betrayed the ninja and had been betrayed by Morro in return. He shuddered as his body recalled the feeling of possession and willed the memory out of his mind. Nothing good ever came from siding with a villain.

The televised screen lit up with an "URGENT" message. This was one that had been playing for days. It featured Gail Gossip, famous Ninjago news reporter, warning the citizens of the city to be on the lookout for the remaining ninja rebels. She described them as armed and dangerous, and always made sure to insinuate that anyone caught helping them would be very very sorry.

"The best thing to do to protect yourself and your neighbors is to turn in any ninja sighting as quickly as possible to the closest member of the SoG…." Gail's voice rambled on.

Ronin wondered what kinda price Gail had been bought for. Or what kind of threat kept her loyal to the new rulers. He had reached the restaurant and pushed through the door. Sure enough, there were enough SoG here to cause a problem or two. He was glad Nya had agreed to let him come. He sat at the bar as different dishes passed by. Now…how to get the attention of the owner? Who even was the owner?

He shouldn't have worried. A couple of biking goons near the back had started getting a little too rowdy. After breaking quite a few dishes and part of the table, it wasn't long before a girl with a long red ponytail burst out of the kitchen doors. Ronin couldn't help feeling he had seen her somewhere before. She approached the ruckus table as one of the bikers chucked another dish.

"You're obviously new here. I'm afraid that I have the right to refuse service to anyone…" she started coldly, eyeing the two trouble-makers. "So either calm down or I'll have to show you the door."

"Eh, who are you to talk to me like tha?" One of the bikers asked, stumbling to his feet. "I'm part of the SoG…and we don't take orders from nobody."

"You wanna roughhouse? Head to Laffy's. But I'm not having this kind of behavior in my restaurant."

"Why you…" The biker attacked, but the red-head was light on her feet. Even with it being two on one they found themselves quickly disarmed and thrown in the street. Ronin couldn't help being impressed. He looked around the restaurant to see how the other SoG would respond, but none of them seemed too bothered. In fact most were chuckling. Whoever this red-head was, she seemed to have earned some level of respect from the bikers.

As she passed his table, Ronin looked up from the paper he was pretending to read.

"Gosh, aint it sad to see what the world's coming to, sweetheart?"

She smiled at him, but her eyes were hard.

"You care to join them?" she asked sweetly.

"Nah…pity to leave before I've had something to eat. But I must say you've impressed me. I'd be a fool not to at least leave my number." He handed her the card with the address on it.

She almost didn't even bother looking at it. But her glance caught the words he had scribbled on the top.

On behalf of Kai…

She turned slightly pink and grabbed the card from him, making sure that to the SoG it looked like she was seconds away of throwing it in the trash. But Ronin had seen her expression and knew that she wouldn't.

Kai, huh? He smirked and helped himself to a passing dish. He had guessed right.

Cole

Cole looked over the landscape. It really did all look the same…what were they even supposed to head for? What goal did they have? Normally they had at least some kind of purpose…some kind of relic to find or villain to fight. But now? How would they ever get home?

"Wow…when you want to be alone…you really want to be alone…"

It was Kai, panting as he pulled himself over the ridge of the rock formation that Cole was sitting on top of. Cole sighed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that. Have you been looking long?"

"Nah" Kai said, with his characteristic smirk. "All I had to do was find the tallest thing to climb in the area. Figured you'd be on top of it."

Cole made a move to stand. "I guess we should be heading back."

Kai shook his head and sat down next to Cole.

"No rush. It's not like there's somewhere to be, anyway."

The two friends sat for a few minutes, gazing over the landscape and not saying anything. Finally Kai spoke up.

"You know…I really admire you Cole."

Cole just looked at him, incredulous.

"I don't know how you maintain your cool around Jay like that. I mean…he's a great guy…but sometimes I'm amazed you don't knock his head in. You've got a lot of self-restraint."

Cole laughed, but without humor.

"I guess….I mean…sometimes I just want to pummel the guy! But he's my best friend… I shouldn't have been so hard on him."

Kai shook his head slightly. He looked back at his friend.

"Cole…you're the strongest person I know. And not just physical strength, either. But no one ever said that being strong is something you have to do alone."

Cole was silent.

"We're here for you, you know? If you wanna talk, I'm here to listen. If not, that's fine…but you got to stop trying to hold the world together on your own. That's not what family is about."

Cole swallowed, not making eye contact. Kai was beginning to think he had picked the not talking option when he started speaking softly.

"It's just that…" he stopped, not sure if he could articulate what he was feeling...or if he even wanted to. After a few moments he started again.

"I've had a lot of fears over the years, you know. Dragons...ghosts…you name it; I'm sure you remember. But the thing that scared me the most was on the day of the departed, when I thought you had all…you know…" Cole trailed off. Kai felt a twist of guilt inside. To this day, they still didn't know if forgetting Cole was something that Yang had caused or something that they had done themselves. It was certainly something none of them were proud of.

"I know my Dad. He's probably at the performance hall right now practicing for some concert or another. And it just feels like I've been…forgotten. Again." He finished lamely, purposely not looking at Kai. Cole didn't talk about his feelings much. It left him feeling vulnerable…and stupid. He was already regretting saying anything.

"That makes a lot of sense, Cole." was all Kai said. What else should he say? He wasn't always the first to rush to emotional aide…but he had known Cole needed someone to be there for him right now. Cole and Jay were so close…except for the times they weren't. But when either of them was out of it, it was generally the other who went to the rescue. But in this instance Jay was not a good choice. Zane had a heart of gold, but he was also a fixer and Kai knew that Cole probably didn't want to be "fixed" right now. Kai and Cole had always had a lot of respect for each other, but they didn't really talk much other than the occasional sarcastic quip. But today Kai had wanted to reach out a bit more, one "tough guy" to another.

"Hey Kai."

He looked up to see Cole looking at him with a small smile.

"Thanks."

7

As much as she wanted to find Lou, Nya had been hoping that he wouldn't actually be at the performance center. As she entered the backstage area, the sound of a barbershop quartet made her blood boil. Again she wondered why he would be performing so soon after…well. After the events from a few days ago.

"Alright, everybody! Take five!"

Lou's voice sounded so cheerful…how? He left the stage and grabbed his cane before heading over to the refreshments placed in the wings. Nya glared at him while he approached.

"What are you doing here?" She asked coldly. She knew she just needed to invite him and get out of here. Ronin had been buzzing the communicator on her arm for the past few minutes; he wanted to head out. But that deeply rooted sense of justice made it so she couldn't just ignore that fact that one of her best friend's father didn't even seem to care that he was gone.

Lou looked up, but didn't recognize her in her disguise.

"Sorry, miss. We still have the hall scheduled for the next few hours. Big performance coming up, you know." He finished with a wink and then reached for a piece of cake. He didn't seem to notice her glaring as he took a bite.

"Mmm… this. is. incredible. You know," he said with a disarming smile in Nya's direction. "I've always been a big sucker for cake."

Something broke inside her.

"Oh, really? Must be where Cole gets it from. Or should I say…GOT it from." She was satisfied to see him flinch at the mention of his son; he hadn't been expecting that.

"What are you doing here Lou? Your son…he…died and you're here eating cake and singing your heart out instead of…of…"

"Instead of what?" Lou met her gaze, and Nya was shocked to see an inner fury in his eyes. She had seen that in Cole sometimes; she was beginning to see more and more of her friend in the man in front of her.

"What is it that I should be doing…miss?" The last word came out as almost a hiss. Nya was at a loss for words. What was it that she wanted him to be doing? Crying? Sitting alone at home, unable to cope with his loss? Maybe not…but surely not just acting like nothing had even happened.

After a few more moments of the two staring at each other, Nya pulled the card out of her sash and put it on the table.

"Some of us are gathering to give the ninja a proper send off. We made you this invite because we assumed you'd want in. Come…or don't. I don't care." And with that, Nya left, slamming the door behind her. Lou watched her go, and then looked down at the card. He picked it up and almost threw it in the trash. At the last minute however, he paused and took a long look at it. He tucked it into his breast pocket, behind his red pocket square. Then he made his way back on stage to his performing group.

"Alright, fellas. From the top! And this time…with feeling!"

Jay

Jay sat, head in one hand as he used his other to draw circles in the dirt. His insides were a jumble of emotions ranging from wounded pride to shame and guilt.

About twenty minutes after Cole had stormed off, Kai said he was going to go look for him. Now the time had stretched to nearly an hour but so far neither of them had returned.

Zane sat nearby with Wu. The toddler hadn't been as high energy since that morning and was leaning on Zane, looking off into the distance and frowning. Jay looked over at them and groaned in annoyance.

"Are we just all gonna sit here, depressed, or are we actually gonna go do something?!"

Zane looked at him, serious faced.

"Like what?"

"Like…I don't know, going to find our friends! And figuring out what the heck we are supposed to be doing and how we're gonna get home…"

"It would be unwise to go look for our friends at this point, because chances are they are headed back to this location and we may miss each other. As for getting home…I am afraid I do not have any ideas."

Jay threw his hands up in frustration.

"That's the whole problem! None of us have any ideas! We are in a totally different realm with no direction and no way home. The only one who could actually provide some answers is our sensei, who…oh yeah…happens to be a baby now and can barely talk in complete sentences!" He gestured to Wu, who had left Zane's side to chase some sort of jumping bug across the dirt.

"Hop…hop…hop…"

Jay looked at Zane and then back to Wu and gestured again.

"I rest my case." He turned back to look in the direction Cole had gone. "Argh…where are they?!"

"Perhaps you could show a little more patience Jay, considering that it's your fault Cole left in the first place."

Jay felt guilt twist in his stomach.

"I didn't mean to say it…"

Zane didn't look impressed.

"It's just that Cole was being so sullen and unfair and bossy, and then we got in that argument and it just…just slipped out."

"It was a pretty harsh comment, especially considering how upset he seemed last night."

The guilt twisted deeper.

"Ugh, Zane, you're not helping!" Jay said, putting his head in both hands. "I already told you I know I shouldn't have said it!" He was quiet for a moment, and then looked over at his nindroid companion.

"You don't think...like…I mean, how bad would you say it was?" Jay asked incoherently. Zane came to sit closer to him.

"I'm afraid I do not understand your question…"

"It's just that Cole has never stormed off like that…sure he's been mad before. Like we have arguments all the time and he yells and I yell but in the end we just sort of move on. But this time he left and he's never done that before and…" Jay stopped, a sudden fear hitting home.

"And what?"

"And what if we aren't friends anymore, Zane?! Like what if he just gave up and ran off and isn't coming back…"

"I believe that would be highly unlikely."

"Yeah, ok, so he'll probably come back…but will we still be friends? He's been a real party pooper lately but he's my best friend. I already lost that friendship once and I really, really don't want to lose it again." He put his face back into his hands.

Zane put a hand on his friend's back.

"Friend's make mistakes, Jay. I think the best course of action would be to apologize. I'm sure that Cole will come around…he usually does."

Jay was quiet for a minute and then sighed.

"Yeah…I guess you're right, Zane."

"Of course I'm right," Zane said, with a teasing smile. "I'm a nindroid."

Jay chuckled. "Well…I shouldn't have to be the only one apologizing since that little runt started it…" Jay gesturing again to the toddler. Or at least, where the toddler used to be.

Zane and Jay jumped to their feet.

"Oh shoot, where'd he go?!" Jay said, looking around in a panic.

"He was just here…how did we not see him leave?" Zane was baffled. How did Wu escape his notice?

Jay groaned.

"Oh great, like Cole wasn't going to kill me before! If we don't find him before he gets back than I am officially going to be the most hooped person alive!"

Zane ran his scanner and picked up small footprints in the dirt.

"He went this way!" He said, pointing. He and Jay began running, with Zane keeping a close eye on the footprint path. Suddenly he stopped, brow furrowed in concentration.

"Wait, why'd you stop? What is it?" Jay asked, looking around for a threat that might have caused his nindroid friend to halt.

"It's the footprints…they seem to suddenly get, well, larger."

Jay rubbed his temples with his hand.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"

"It appears as though…"

But Zane's prediction was cut short by a chuckle. The two friends looked up to see a figure step out from behind a boulder.

"Looking for me?"

8

The place they had chosen for the funeral was off the coast of the endless sea. Something about watching all the waves crash in the starlight calmed Nya. She heard someone walking behind her and turned, thinking it was P.I.X.A.L with more decorations.

It was Lloyd. Seeing her turn caused him to freeze, like a deer caught in headlights. Seeing him had caught her off guard as well. Ever since that night they had been tiptoeing around each other. The truth was that Nya was happy that he was ok. Seeing him on Mistake's table, back when there was that chance that he wouldn't pull through seemed like a nightmare. She cared about Lloyd a lot—they had known each other since he was just a kid, before he had ever been the green ninja.

But she was also angry.

Ever since her talk with Ronin, she had been trying not to be. And the truth was that she wasn't mad at Lloyd. So maybe the feeling she was looking for wasn't anger, but hurt.

Why had he gone to face his father alone? Why had he locked them in that room? Didn't he trust them? Hadn't he needed them?

And now, everyone was gone…

It's not his fault. Nya reminded herself once again. There really was no use at pinning blame on any of them. The true culprit was Harumi. If it was anyone's fault, it was hers—everything that had happened was because of her own twisted need for revenge.

Nya had been staring at him for a long time, and Lloyd couldn't read her face. He was glad she didn't seem so angry anymore…but he couldn't help feeling like that didn't mean he was forgiven. Not that he blamed her. He hadn't forgiven himself either.

"So…how did the invites go?" He asked, trying to make conversation. He winced at how awkward it came out. Once upon a time, they could talk freely.

"Oh. It was fine." He noticed a flash in her eyes, as if she was remembering something that had made her angry. But it was gone as soon as it came, leaving him to wonder if he had imagined it. She turned her attention back to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Um, better. Yeah, a lot better." It was true…at least on a physical level. His father had left him in bad shape, but every day he felt his body get stronger with less aches.

"And your powers…?"

"No."

Those still hadn't returned. Lloyd wasn't sure what role his powers had played in everything that went down, but even as his body got better his powers remained absent. It was such a strange feeling to be without them.

"I'm sorry."

She really did look sorry too. Maybe she didn't totally hate him after all. He hoped there was still some kind of chance for their friendship. He really couldn't bear losing anybody else.

"Well…I better go help P.I.X.A.L with those decorations." She continued, giving him one last smile. He watched her go over to REX to help their robot friend pull strings of flowers, lanterns, and candles out. It wouldn't be a long service, or one that could really give their friends the recognition they deserved. But P.I.X.A.L wanted to be sure that it was as good as possible. She had missed Zane's first funeral, but this time she wanted to be there with everyone else.

"P.I.X.A.L, you did a great job with all these decorations" Nya said, helping her friend hang flower strings on tree branches.

"Thank you, Nya. There's just something…human about decorating a place for an event." Her voice sounded so sad.

Nya felt a little guilty, realizing how much P.I.X.A.L had been hurting these last few days. Knowing her, she probably hadn't talked to anyone about how she was feeling; P.I.X hated feeling like any kind of burden. Before she could think better of it, Nya pulled P.I.X.A.L into a hug.

"What is this for?" P.I.X.A.L asked in surprise. She couldn't recall any other time in her data base when Nya had hugged her.

"Because…I know you're hurting P.I.X. I mean, we are all hurting. You shouldn't have to keep all yours inside just because I've been on such a warpath."

P.I.X.A.L didn't answer right away.

"I just wanted to be helpful…"

"Oh Pix. You've always been helpful. I can't think of a single time when you haven't been helpful." They placed Lanterns around the area on the beach where they would have the service. "But I want to help you too. Just because someone else wants to help you doesn't mean that you have become unhelpful…it just means that they want to be helpful…too…um…does that make sense?" Nya never could explain things in the way she wanted. She also felt especially incoherent next to her logical friend, who always spoke in a perfectly clear way.

"I understand what you mean, Nya." P.I.X.A.L said, smiling at her. "And I appreciate it."

Misako approached the two girls, who had finished setting up.

"Not a moment too soon, you two. It looks like the first people are starting to arrive." They turned to see Dareth swaggering down the beach, dressed in his brown ninja costume. Skylor wasn't far behind him. Nya realized she hadn't seen their red-headed friend in a long time. She found herself wondering how Ronin managed to invite her without anyone catching on.

"Who else are we waiting for?" Lloyd asked, looking down the beach to catch sight of anyone else.

"The Walkers." Nya answered.

P.I.X.A.L looked confused.

"But what about…"

"Just the Walkers."

Lou

By the time Lou reached home the moon was shining and he was exhausted. He dug through his pockets for his keys, trying to steel himself for the hours to come in his quiet house. Perhaps he would write another song.

He pushed the door open and flicked on the light.

"Hello Lou."

Lou looked up in alarm. There, on his couch, a young woman was relaxing as if she owned the place. Her hair was long and pale, and under it a jagged red scar. His blood ran cold.

"Sorry to barge in. You weren't at home, see. But I hate to see you stuck on that doorstep…come on in." She sounded so polite, so royal…but also deadly. Very deadly.

Lou heard something behind him and turned to glowing red eyes. The unknown assailant had a knife to his back. He slowly walked into his house.

"I'm afraid we have a bit of a problem Lou. One of your neighbors reported a ninja sighting in the area. And apparently, she was looking for you."

Lou still didn't say anything, never looking away from the red-scarred witch. He knew who she was…and what she had done.

Harumi motioned for him to come take a seat next to her. He clenched his jaw and, cane in hand, slowly made his way over to her. He refused to sit.

"Oh yes, her good neighbor Lou…a performer of the highest quality, was being targeted by a Ninja girl," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Of course, at first I thought it was silly. What on earth would the Ninja want with a performer? Maybe they just needed someone to sing them their lullabies…I know a good lullaby or two myself, you know. Anyway, I sent Mr. E to have a look. And what do you know? He found this."

She tossed a picture onto the table in front of them. Her voice gained a threatening tone. "How do you explain this picture, Lou?"

But he was no longer looking at her; in fact, he could no longer hear her at all. The picture was of the four ninja, with Cole holding aloft the fang blade they had just earned. He had been so proud that day…so proud…

The one called Mr. E knocked him to the ground and out of his reverie. His cane clattered across the floor.

"Are you even listening Lou? What connection do you have with the Ninja, and where are the survivors?" Harumi's voice had lost its sweetness.

"I think I know…" a sinister sing song voice came from the back of the house. A woman with strange purple skin and a high black ponytail walked into the room and over to Harumi.

"Oh-ho-ho, did you start playing without me?" She asked, sneering down at Lou. Harumi took a small picture from her hand. As the former Quiet One looked down at it, understanding lit up in her face.

"Oh, of course. I should have seen the family resemblance. You have the same eyebrows…" She crouched down in front of Lou, who had propped up on one arm to continue his silent glare. "…And the same stoic expression." She started to laugh cruelly.

"I never would have guessed Cole came from performing stock, not with that awful voice of his." Harumi taunted. "Honestly, we did everyone a favor by silencing him…"

Lou's attack almost reached her, but Harumi was faster. In a single motion she grabbed his arm and threw him across the room. He hit his trophy table hard, knocking winner's cups and medals to the ground. His eyes closed in pain.

"That explains why Nya came looking for you, Lou. Don't try to pretend like she didn't find you…ninja always finish the job. Well…almost always." Harumi was done mocking him; she wanted answers. "What was it she wanted to talk to you about? Where are the survivors?"

She approached Lou slowly, menacingly.

"I could have Ultra Violet convince you to talk….but I must warn you. She doesn't play so nice." The purple villain's insane laughter punctuated the threat. Lou kept his eyes closed. In his mind, he started to play a song. After a few moments his mind started to slowly drift away…

"What's this?"

His eyes snapped open. Harumi's voice was genuinely curious now as she stared at something on the floor in between her and Lou. It was a small square card. In desperation Lou tried to reach it but, once again, Harumi was quicker.

"Well, well, well, an invite. I wonder what it's for? Such a pity we weren't invited…I do love a good gathering."

"No…" The one rasped word was the first Lou had spoken all evening. Ultra Violet kicked him to be silent.

"So he was holding out on us after all… should we teach him what happens when you lie to the Empress?" she asked. Harumi looked down at Lou with victorious contempt.

"Poor Lou...staying quiet all this time to protect the remaining ninja, only to let this invite slip. I'm afraid that means you've failed…" her voice trailed off. She had been walking towards the door, as if to leave, but she paused at the table to pick up the small discarded picture. She studied it with amusement.

"But I supposed you're used to that. Tell me…how does it feel to fail as a father? But I can understand why you've been off performing, rather than mourning."

She caressed the picture and laughed. "He was so pathetic…so mediocre." She made eye contact with Lou. "I wouldn't mourn him either." She tossed the picture to the side and it landed with the sound of breaking glass. Her laughter echoed in Lou's mind long after the three had left him alone in silence.

L
ou panted painfully. He tried to stand but found that with his new back injury and no cane, he couldn't quite make it. He half crawled, half scooted across the floor until he came to the picture that Harumi had thrown. Out of the shattered glass, he pulled the picture from its frame.

It was just a picture of Cole, taken right before he had gone off to the Marty Openheimer's school for performing arts. He had refused to smile, but Lou had been so excited that day that he had taken this picture anyways. As Lou stared at it, the feelings he had been trying so hard to avoid washed over him.

"Oh…son…"

9

The sun was high overhead by the time Cole and Kai were headed back to the campsite.

"Oh man…" Cole said suddenly, causing Kai to turn.

"What is it?"

"I just realized that we left Jay and Wu basically alone together for the last hour… I just hope that Jay is behaving himself."

Kai laughed. "They aren't totally alone…I mean, they have a nindroid babysitter at least. And if anything, maybe you should be worrying about Jay in that situation…"

They shared a laugh. A group of dragons flew overhead, and the two friends sobered and cautiously watched until they had passed.

"Isn't it weird that we used to be good friends with dragons…but now… I guess it's just hard to know if these are good dragons or not." Cole said as the dragons became specks on the horizon.

"Yeah…" Kai said, thinking. Then he looked over like he had just had an epiphany.

"Wait, that's it!"

"What's it?"

"How we get home! Dragons can fly into different realms, right? So all we have to do…"

"…Is befriend a dragon and convince it to take us back! Kai, you're a genius!" Cole said, finishing Kai's thought. Kai smirked. He didn't get called a genius very often and he decided that he could get used to it.

They had reached their destination, but the campsite seemed deserted. A few discarded breakfast skewers were the only signs of their friends.

"Wait…where'd everybody go?" Cole asked, looking around. He felt panic rise. They wouldn't have left…right? That meant that something happened to them…

"Huh, that's really weird…I can't think of where they would have gone…" Kai said, equally baffled. Cole was searching the campsite for clues in a near frenzy.

"What could have happened? It doesn't look like any battle went down…but we can't be sure…"

Suddenly he heard a familiar sound. It was Jay…complaining about something. He sighed in relief and turned to find the source. He caught sight of them in the distance.

There's Jay and Zane, he thought as he and Kai ran towards them. But where's…

They stopped dead in their tracks.

"Is that…Wu?" Kai asked as they caught sight of the figure behind their friends.

"I can't believe it…he got older again! You know, now he kinda looks like Lloyd…back when we first met him…right?" Cole added, shocked by his sensei's sudden transformation. Their friends had almost reached them now and they could hear Jay's conversation more clearly.

"…so all I'm saying is that I know that you were doing it all consciously because toddler body or not, you…"

"You're back!" Zane called out, catching sight of his friends. Jay looked over.

"Of course, the second we leave is when they decide to show up…" he muttered. He felt a worm of worry now that Cole was actually…well…here.

"Guys! We were wondering where you had disappeared to…" Kai said as they joined up.

"Looks like we're one step closer to getting our old Wu back," Cole said, rubbing Wu's head. Wu smiled back at him.

"Yes…I suppose we are." he replied. He looked to be about 9 or 10 now, and would have sounded more like his old Wu self if it hadn't been for his high-pitched, pre-voice change speech.

While his friends all talked and joked together, Jay hung back from the group a bit. He noticed Zane giving him a meaningful look. He sighed and stepped forward.

"Hey…uh, Cole?" His friend turned to face him, looking a bit uncomfortable himself.

"Yeah Jay?"

"I uh…um. I'm sorry. About before. I…I shouldn't have said that…"

Cole looked shocked.

"Wow…really?!"

Jay instantly became annoyed.

"YEAH really! Are you doubting the sincerity of my apology?"

"Yeah…I mean, no…of course not…it's just…" Cole held up his hands in defense. It wasn't that he doubted the seriousness of Jay's apology, it was just that it was the first time he could ever remember Jay actually apologizing. He hadn't expected it…but he supposed it would be better not to point that out.

"I'm sorry too Jay…I was kinda hard on you… and I shouldn't have run off like that." The two stood awkwardly for a few moments more.

"So…..we good?" Jay asked. Cole laughed and smacked his back.

"Yeah, motormouth. We're good."

"We're more than good." Kai cut in, eager to share his great idea with the group. "I figured out how we're going to get out of here!"

After he finished explaining Zane cut in.

"I had already processed that course of action, but that scenario runs into several problems…"

"Aw man, of course you did." Kai muttered, suddenly deflated. He decided it was hard to feel like a genius when there was a nindroid in the group who had already thought of any good idea you could possibly have.

"To get home, it is not dragons that we will rely on." Wu piped up. Such old-Wu words sounded so strange coming from the body and voice of a kid. The four ninja looked at him expectantly.

"Ok…so what are we looking for?" Cole asked.

"It's not a what, it's a who."

"Yep. There he is. There's the old fortune cookie man we all know and love." Jay said, face palming. Wu ignored him.

"The person we have to find is the Dragon Master."

Survivors

It was a calm night, and the waves lapped peacefully on the beach. Lloyd looked at those who had gathered to mourn together. For once the threatening darkness from the city in the distance was blocked…held at bay by the tranquility of this moment. It wasn't a happy moment—far from it—but it was so calm and sincere that he felt some of the turmoil inside of him ebb.

P.I.X.A.L was passing out tea candles to everyone. It was silent, but rather than feeling heavy the silence wrapped around them all like a blanket. Lloyd took his candle and smiled a bit at P.I.X. She gave a smile back and moved to the next person. Lloyd turned his attention to his candle. Soon they would light them all in memory of his fallen friends… he frowned as he felt the all too familiar pangs of guilt and grief worm their way into his tranquil state. Long after this candle had been lit and had died out he would have these feelings of guilt and regret hanging over him. Part of him wanted to shake loose from the dreadful emotions, but deep down he couldn't help but think that he deserved to feel this way. He didn't deserve to have peace and closure in this moment…or any moment. His eyes closed in pain.

He heard the sound of soft sobbing and looked up to see Ed comforting his wife.

These are parents forced to mourn the loss of their son...I did that!

Suddenly he didn't feel like he could go through with this service anymore. He felt like he was choking, and looked around at everyone gathered. Surely they knew whose fault this loss was. Surely they blamed him as much as he blamed himself. He wanted to bolt.

P.I.X.A.L's voice broke through his panicked thoughts.

"Tonight we honor heroes fallen in protection of Ninjago and their friends. We will light these candles now in their remembrance…and lanterns in the years to come. They will not be forgotten. We will not forget."

At the end of her simple statement, she lit her candle. The others did the same.

Nya looked down at her candle, tears silently coursing down her face. P.I.X.A.L walked up next to her and met her eyes. After some unspoken conversation, the two of them approached the gently lapping water on the beach. Together they placed their candles in the waves and Nya used her powers to send them lightly out into the sea. Nya felt an arm on her shoulder and turned to see Skylor, who smiled sadly at her before placing her own candle in the water.

Down from them Ed and Edna knelt to add theirs. Edna continued to softly sob and Ed held her close, eyes misty, as they watched Nya's little waves carry their candles away. It was clear that Jay's loss was still a fresh wound for them.

Dareth set his candle down and gave it a salute as it headed out.

"Adios, my fellow ninjas." he drawled sadly. His salute began wavering and soon he had to drop it so that he could have both arms to wipe across his eyes in an effort to stop the tears leaking out.

Ronin felt a little awkward about the whole thing. Unsure of what else to do, he removed his hat and set his candle free. He watched, hat in hand, as it joined the other little lights twinkling off in the distance.

Lloyd hung back. He still hadn't lit his candle and his eyes were squeezed shut, fighting back tears. Misako approached and put her hand on his arm, causing him to look up with teary eyes.

"I can't." his voice broke.

"You don't have to do it alone," his mother said with a sad smile. Together they approached the water.

Harumi

"Shall we call in backup, boss?" Ultra Violet looked at Harumi, awaiting orders, but Harumi continued to look at the address on the little card. Without looking up, she waved her hand at her wild companion.

"If you must. But we aren't going to be waiting for the backup. We're headed there now. They can catch up."

"I was hoping you would say that!" Violet laughed. Nearby, Mr. E cracked his neck to signify that he, too, was ready for some action.

Harumi's car was large, black, and expensive. Mr. E took the wheel and Harumi stared out at the moon, pensive.

She had worked and waited for so long…for years…hiding behind masks, planning each step with precision and patience. She tightened her fist. So much patience. That time a few days ago when they had taken control…she had long dreamed of that moment. No, she had LIVED for that moment. There were times when the pieces didn't click right into place…times when those meddling ninja had almost beaten her. There was a point when she had honestly thought she had lost.

But the power of revenge had proven stronger.

She thought of that moment, where she had held Lloyd over the edge of that tram and forced him to watch as he finally lost everything. Her brow furrowed in anger. That moment was supposed to one that she looked back on in victory. It was supposed to be the sweetest climax of her perfected revenge.

But it hadn't been. She had won…she had accomplished everything she had ever planned. But Lloyd hadn't been destroyed.

How…how could he not be? She had toyed with his heart, making as many painful blows as she could. She had caused his own father had beat him within an inch of his life. He had lost his closest friends while being literally powerless to save them. She had lauded over his pain, sure that Lloyd Garamadon had been shattered into something that could never be restored. She was so close to that feeling of satisfaction knowing that even someone as good and pure as the virtuous "Green Ninja" would turn bitter and empty and hateful if faced with enough loss.

But he hadn't.

Fury coursed through her as she remembered that night. It was supposed to be the night where she gained everything she had ever wanted…but instead it was the night where Lloyd had escaped. Her plans had worked and she had been victorious in every possible way but one. But that was the victory she had wanted the most.

She finally smiled as they drove out of the city and towards the sea. Tonight she would have a second chance at victory.

10

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?!"

Jay's friends made eye contact as the blue ninja freaked out at now-child-sized Wu, who had informed them that despite knowing that they needed to find the Dragon Master didn't have any clue on where he would actually be found.

"You must remember I've never actually been here before and next to nothing is known about this realm." Wu said, a little heatedly. It seemed that child-Wu had less patience than old Wu, despite still having all his memories and wisdom.

"Well, that's just great. So we really aren't any better off than we were before, now ARE WE?!" Jay was almost reaching hysteria point. The fact that not even Wu knew anything about this place…he was beginning to get the feeling that they were doomed. And doomed meant never getting home. And never getting home meant never seeing Nya again! And Jay had worked too hard and for too long to have everything in that relationship fall apart now! He wanted to grab Wu and shake some wisdom right out of him…and maybe he would have if Kai didn't put a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe not, but panicking really isn't going to do much to help the situation, Jay." he said. Jay huffed a breath but did calm down a bit.

"Master, do you have any ideas on where we should go to begin our search?" Zane asked. Now that Wu was more…coherent, it only seemed right to call him by the respectful name. Even if he was still in a small child body. Zane tried to calculate how long it would be before they really had their old Wu back…but he was finding no patterns or algorithms that could predict the aging rate of their master. He sighed a little; like everything else in this situation, they were just going to have to find out one step at a time.

"Well…considering he is the Dragon master, it appears we ought to find some dragons. If we can find where the dragons are migrating to, I'm sure we'll find that he is not far off." Wu said thoughtfully.

Jay opened his mouth to say something snarky, but Cole gave him a look that cut him off.

"Sounds like a plan to me, or at least more of a plan than we've had so far." Cole said. "So our first step is tracking down one of the locals."

"Can't be too hard; they've been flying overhead often enough the whole time we've been here," Kai added.

"But based on the flight patterns I've witnessed, there doesn't seem to be a certain direction that the dragons are going; I am not sure it would be wise to just follow a dragon as there is no guarantee it would lead us to the right place." Zane said. "However, if we would like to follow that plan, I can try to sort through my data to determine the most likely time a dragon would be passing by…"

"Uh…I don't think that will be necessary…" Jay interrupted, eyes in the sky.

"Why not?" Zane asked, as the group turned to face Jay. He urgently pointed upwards.

"Because there's one HEADING THIS WAY!"

Before anyone could have much time to react, a deep maroon dragon dove from the skies and snatched Zane in one claw before rising back into the air.

"NO! ZANE!" Cole shouted, jumping on the dragon's other leg at the last second.

"Oh, this is JUST GREAT!" Jay yelled, annoyed. He fired lightening at the beast only to have Kai stop him.

"Quit it! You might hit Cole or Zane!" he snapped. Jay glared back.

"Well what do you suggest?"

"We're losing them!" Wu interrupted, running after the dragon. He looked down in distain. His stubby legs were useless.

Cole

Meanwhile in the sky, Cole had defaulted to bargaining-as he often did in these situations. He yelled up to the dragon, still clinging to its leg.

"Look, Mr. Dragon…I mean, if you're a Mister….uh…anyways, I don't suppose you would be willing to put me and my friend down? We're actually friends to dragons…don't know if you know my friend Rocky but he could vouch for us. And while you're at it…do you happen to know anything about the dragon master?..."

"I don't think the Dragon can understand you, Cole." Zane called unhelpfully from the Dragon's clutches.

"Ah, well, would you like to try, Zane?"

"I would use my elemental powers, but it's crushing my arms down…I can't seem to…"

WHIZZZ

"What was…" Cole started, looking for the source of the mysterious sound. He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, however, because the dragon was suddenly plummeting from the sky.

Ninja

Jay, Kai, and Wu watched in horror from the ground, still a half a mile or so away.

"Is it…falling?!" Jay asked. "What the heck did Cole do?!"

Cole

Cole and Zane yelled as the dragon hurtled towards the earth.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"

"THE WINGS!" Zane responded. Cole looked up and noticed that the Dragon's wings were caught up in some kind of net.

"Oh GREAT." He said, mainly to himself, and made his way up the dragon's leg towards the wings. He considered himself a skilled climber, but climbing on something that was spinning out of control and hurtling towards earth was difficult even for a pro. By some miracle or another, he reached one of the wings. Engaging his earth arms, he grabbed the bottom of the net and began snapping the ropes binding the dragon. The ground was uncomfortably close when the combined efforts of Cole and the straining dragon finally broke the binds of the net.

A few things happened all at once.

The Dragon's wings snapped open, sending Cole flying through the air. Opening its wings had nearly halting the dragon's crash to the earth…but not quite. As the dragon crashed to the ground, the impact threw Zane from its claws.

Kai, Jay, and Wu picked up their speed.

"Hurry it up!" Jay called back to his lagging sensei. It was strange…he never would have dared talk to Wu like this when he was old…but at the moment the little ankle-biter was getting on his nerves.

"It's these legs…I may need some assistance." He looked at Jay pointedly.

"Oh…no. I am not carrying you…"

Zane

Zane picked himself up off the ground. He looked at the dragon, which seemed dazed as it shook itself loose of dirt. He began backing away slowly, still not sure what the creature's initial offense toward him was. The dragon didn't seem to notice him as it took to the skies once more.

"Oh, great…there goes our chance with a dragon…" Jay complained as he, Wu, and Kai finally made it to Zane. The nindroid turned and was surprised to see that Wu was clinging to Jay's back.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jay growled at Zane's unanswered question, basically dumping Wu in the dirt. "Where's Cole?"

"I…I do not know…" Zane replied, looking around.

"I'm pretty sure I saw him go flying when the dragon got its wings in order," Kai pointed out.

"We must find him…and fast." Wu chimed in. "It is never wise to be alone in these situations."