Echo has been watching the ninja. It's different now, though, than when he spent his time watching them before. It's very different now.
Before, he watched from the shadows, from the cameras, from the background. Before, he watched with disdain and despair. Before, he watched to see how to plan his revenge. But now? Now, he watches from right beside and among and alongside them. Now, he watches with help and hope. Now, he watches to see the truth.
This is the truth he sees: the ninja are not who he thought they were.
The ninja talk and act, play and work, live and love. They really and truly do seem to love.
Kai gets angry, yes, quite angry quite often, and some of the time it is frivolous anger at best, but then it is usually directed out as a joke or half-joke. Much of the time, though, it is righteous anger, directed at those who do wrong.
Cole plays at being hard and genuinely is soft. He cares for those around him, and he cares deeply about doing what is right.
Lloyd leads the ninja, and now that Echo sees without a filter of hatred the ways the ninja tend to interact, Echo sees the kind of job that can be. It's a balance of planning and listening and changing plans, and it's a job that suits Lloyd.
Nya sometimes seems perfect, but she knows she isn't and she admits it honestly, always trying to do better and often putting more pressure on herself than she should. She's been hurt before, and she wants to keep others from being hurt in the future.
Jay worries repeatedly, anxiety cycling through thoughts over and over. To an extent, they are sometimes justified worries, given all that the ninja have been through together, causing him to want to be ready for anything, and when his worry isn't justified, the other ninja are ready to get him out of it.
And Zane… Echo still isn't sure if he can count Zane as a ninja. Zane still seems superior over the rest to Echo. However, after watching the ninja more closely and less judgmentally, Echo can start to accept that the ninja count Zane as one of their own, and Zane does the same for them. The ninja love Zane, and Echo loves Zane, and Zane loves both Echo and the ninja, so Echo will do his best by the ninja.
Echo will accept the ninja. He chooses to do so, even after what they've done and what they haven't done. Echo will help the ninja, and he will stand with the ninja, and he will accept the ninja. He will no longer be an enemy watching the ninja.
Now, Echo will be an ally, and he will watch over the ninja.
And the ninja will watch over him.
(And maybe Zane counts as a ninja.)
(And maybe, just maybe…)
(Maybe Echo counts as a ninja too.)