"Ow!" A voice cried out in the darkness. I winced in sympathy as Garmadon stubbed his toe for probably the third time already.

"Hang on, I'll go get a flashlight," I said quickly, starting to retreat back down the hall. We couldn't risk turning on any lights, as the layout of the house would mean that any light would reach the living room and wake up Morro, who was still almost definitely fast asleep on the couch.

"No, my eyes will adjust. Now, where do you keep your flour?" he insisted, looking around my rather tiny kitchen.

"The cabinet in front of you— yes, that one," I replied as he swiftly grabbed the bag of white powder and started measuring it into cups. "What else do we need?"

"Baking powder, salt, white sugar, butter—" he started listing as if he was reading off a recipe.

"Slow down, I can't move that fast," I said, getting out the ingredients as he listed them. I kept my voice hushed, so as not to wake Morro up in the next room over. Garmadon took the cue and lowered his voice as well.

"Then milk and eggs. And syrup, of course," he finished.

I looked over in surprise. "There are eggs in pancakes?"

Garmadon paused and raised an eyebrow. "Was that a joke…?"

I shook my head sheepishly. "I've always just used the pre-made mix from Trader Godot's. You add water and put it into a pan."

The gray-haired man shook his head in disbelief and started to laugh. "Well no wonder you enjoy my cooking so much! Mixes are fine when you're in a rush, but this is the afterlife! You've got all the time in the world, you really ought to learn to cook from scratch."

I smiled. "Well, that's what you're here for, is it not?"

"Indeed." He nodded and pointed to the fridge. "Could you grab the eggs and crack three into a bowl?"

"All right," I said, following instructions and feeling rather proud of myself that I hadn't yet broken anything in the darkness. Although as I opened the fridge door, an explosion of light flooded the kitchen, blinding both of us momentarily.

"Aaaugh…" I heard Garmadon mutter, rubbing his eyes.

"Sorry," I said, hastily pulling out the carton of eggs and shutting the door. After doing so, the entire kitchen seemed blacker than before, and green and purple spots danced in my vision.

"So much for my eyes adjusting," he muttered, and I heard him grope around on the countertop trying to find the ingredients he'd been working with.

"You sure you don't want me to go get a flashlight?" I asked, hoping I'd be able to find my way back in the darkness.

"Nope, this is a challenge now, and I don't back down on challenges," he said matter-of-factly. I refrained from commenting that he perhaps had more in common with Morro that he would care to admit.

After we'd sifted and mixed all the ingredients together, Garmadon showed me how to pour the right amount of batter and flip the pancakes, which was the only part I really already knew how to do. I didn't reject further instruction, though— it seemed to make the old sensei happy to be teaching again.

After a short while, we'd successfully piled up a stack of pancakes high enough to (hopefully) satiate even the hungriest teenage ghost boy.

"It's still extremely early," I pointed out as I studied our finished handiwork. "I don't think it would be justifiable to wake up Morro just yet… even if it is for pancakes."

"Hm. Then we'll just have to start this feast ourselves," Garmadon said with a smile. "Don't want to waste pancakes, after all. And we can always reheat some when Morro wakes up."

"I like that train of thought," I laughed, carrying a stack over to the table. "Bring over that bottle of syrup, will you?"

"You sure like your syrup," Garmadon said, smirking as he complied with my request. I shrugged.

"I'm a simple man. Give me some tools and a bottle of syrup that's not too sweet and I'll be content for a week," I replied, piling some of the hot food onto my plate. I'd had to discard a few pancakes that I'd accidentally burned, but the rest of them looked pretty darn good— to be honest, I was kind of proud of myself.

Garmadon took a bite of his food first and nodded approvingly. "Now this is how you make pancakes." He waved his fork at me. "Don't you go buying any more mixes, you hear?"

I started on my own food and was delighted at how light and fluffy everything had turned out. It really did beat the pre-made stuff by a mile. "Mmm… as long as you're here to help me cook, we shouldn't have any major problems," I laughed, stuffing another forkful into my mouth.

We ate in silence for the next ten or fifteen minutes, enjoying each other's company as our eyes finally adjusted to the darkness that was ever-so-slowly receding. There was something oddly comforting about the entire atmosphere— a week ago, had somebody told me I would enjoy eating pancakes at five in the morning with a former evil warlord while waiting for a hotheaded teenager to wake up on my living room couch, I would probably have doubted their sanity. But now, it seemed the most natural and comfortable situation in the world. Alas, the wheel of time has a funny way of turning.

"Do you think I should go get Morro?" I finally asked after we'd both had our fill— or at least, our fill for a few hours time.

"Hm… what time is it?" Garmadon started to ask, looking around for the clock. Then he waved off his own question. "Never mind, go wake him. If we have to be awake, the boy can suffer along with us."

"Yes," I laughed in response, "I'll be sure he has his proper share of suffering at the hands of your delicious cooking."

"Our delicious cooking," Garmadon corrected as I went into the living room to fetch Morro. I beamed with pride as I turned the corner and squinted, expecting to see a figure lying on the couch.

"Morro?" I whispered quietly as I approached the makeshift bed with concern. It could've been the dark, but it didn't look like anyone was there. As I got nearer, my suspicions were confirmed by the sight of a pale blue blanket lying on the floor. I felt my eyebrows start to crease in worry. It wasn't like Morro to wake up early, and it definitely wasn't like him to not loudly and obnoxiously announce his presence.

I walked over to the sliding glass doors and breathed a sigh of relief— the teenager was sitting cross-legged outside on the ground, although I had no idea why. Perhaps he was waiting for the sun to rise— if that was the case, he was going to have to wait a little longer. I almost opened the door to say something, but stopped myself as I gripped the handle.

Day of the Departed is the day after tomorrow, I realized. What if his Nights of Flashback have begun?

I took another look at the form outside. The teenager had his head down as if deep in thought and his arms crossed to ward off the cold. I suddenly remembered to wonder why he hadn't brought the blanket with him for the extra warmth— then realized that perhaps he intended to let the cold keep him awake. I hesitated, unsure of whether or not he would want me to catch him in his current state. I decided to turn on some lights in the house first so he'd be alerted of our having woken up: he could decide what to do from there.

"Everything all right?" Garmadon asked as I came back into the kitchen and flipped on a light switch. "AAAUGH… that's really bright…"

"Sorry," I apologized. "It seems that Morro is already awake. He's outside in the backyard."

"Really? That's odd," Garmadon started, but then he fell silent, probably coming to the same conclusion I had.

"I figured I should turn on some lights so he knows he can come in," I explained, eyeing the considerably diminished stack of pancakes on the table and wondering if I should make some more before Morro returned.

"Good idea," the sensei replied with a nod.

I hesitated, then commented, "It's sometimes easy to forget that he died so young."

"Really? Seems to me he won't let us forget it," Garmadon half-chuckled in an awkward sort of way.

"Ah, you know what I mean," I said. I paused, looking at the pancakes on the table and then at the stove and the bowl of batter already ready to be poured. "Okay, I told myself I was done earlier, but…"

Garmadon smiled and held up the bottle next to the stack of pancakes knowingly. "Syrup?"

—

(A/N: Wait hold on I thought I posted this chapter... WOOPS XD Oh well, posting a few hours late won't hurt anyone. XP Hope you enjoyed, and as always, more to come soon meaningprobablywheneverI'mprocrastinatingsomethingelse! Reviews are food for my currently extremely well-fed, happy and healthy muse! Seriously, you guys are awesome ^u^)