Laaaaaaast chapter! (Barring possible epilogue.)

Okay, so apparently I was kinda vague back there (sorry about that), so just to clear up any remaining confusion: The Ultra Dragon is dead. Well and truly. Kicked the bucket. Przejechał się na drugi swiat.

In sum: Cole's dad is going blind, Jaya is possibly done for, Kai's a trafficker, hugs don't work, apologies don't happen, and all their efforts come to dust.

Yeah, I don't know what my problem is either, but I bet it's hard to pronounce. -_(\

Anyway, we're wrapping up, folks! Pop on "We Dreamt Our Dream" (it was meant most of all for the ending), and . . . well, I hesitate to recommend enjoyment, so . . . get whatever you were hoping to get out of this?

Ah well. If you do enjoy it, I'll be happy.

And we dreamt our dream

Ev'ry night

You'll still be here

At dawn's new light

And you will never leave.

After the long, long night, imperceptibly the darkness outside the window lightened. A murky gray began to filter through the slits in the blinds, gradually turning chalky white and at last melting into soft smudges of golden sunrise. Now there was only the rise and fall of steady breaths mixed in with the merry staccato of the birds outside. Heartless little creatures.

The rustle of sheets seemed terribly loud as Kai rolled over onto his side.

"So that's where those scars came from."

"Yeah."

". . . There never was a mating season."

"Nope." Cole took a deep breath and let it out, staring up at the ceiling. "There wasn't."

Silence.

"It was our fault," said Jay dully, and Cole guessed by the creak of the mattress that he was sitting up. "The mash just gave him the energy to finish the job."

"But if we hadn't given him the mash, he would have starved to death." Lloyd sat up as well, pushing off his blankets. "Is that much better?"

Another pained silence. At last Cole rolled upright and swung his legs over the side of his bunk, looking around at the room full of tired, guilty faces.

"We couldn't have known, guys. None of us could've known. We tried, but there just wasn't any way to save him."

"The adult forms were not able to exist as one." Zane's metallic voice echoed softly, and Cole grimaced.

"Yeah. They weren't."

They gathered in the mess hall, quiet. Nya looked drained, and Jay subconsciously sat down next to her, his hand straying towards hers. Old habits died hard. A few of them took cold cereal, but nobody seemed to have much interest in actually eating it. Sensei Wu finally stood up.

"I know it has been a painful night for us all," he said quietly, "but we cannot change what is already done. Our dragon lived a happy life, but the time comes for all living things."

Silent nods of acceptance all around the table. Jaded eyes. There had been a time, once, when they would all have felt a little bolstered, would have taken the words to heart and tried to believe they helped. But they were beyond that now. They respected their Sensei and valued what he was telling them, but they didn't need him to pull them through anymore.

"The Ultra Dragon must be buried," continued Wu, sounding more tired than he had in a very long time. "I am sorry, but it must be done."

Eyes strayed down to the tabletop. It was true; it wasn't safe leaving a carcass of that size uncovered, it would attract animals and quite probably spread disease. Even aside from that, their pet, their loyal rescuer, a creature that proud—it deserved better than being left to rot in a hole. Much better.

There had been a day, thought Cole, when they wouldn't have hesitated. There'd been a day when they'd all have plowed naively off, thinking they could handle the gruesome job painlessly if they just had courage and teamwork. Probably would have wound up getting a nasty wake-up call a little too late. And . . . there had been a day when he would have stood up and volunteered first, driven by some inane idyllic ideas of what a leader was supposed to do. Back when they'd still lived in something other than the nitty-gritty dirty selfish grown-up world.

. . . To the Underworld with it. Cole pushed his cereal bowl away and stood up.

"I don't know if it'd be possible to get him back up the tunnel," he said steadily. "But I'll see if it would work to bring the cave ceiling down."

A moment, then suddenly Lloyd pushed away his own bowl so hard the milk sloshed out and stood up as well, nodding.

"I can help."

"I'll scan so you can bring it down safely," said Zane, standing in turn. "And perhaps the explosive shurikens might work as well? . . . "

"Hey, I'll come too." Kai tossed a small flame from his palm, attempting a dark smirk and only succeeding in looking broken. "If all else fails, there's always cremation."

Jay was last to stand, but he stood.

"Can't do any of that fancy stuff," he ventured, managing a wan smile, "but I've still been dabbling in poetry. I could . . . write the big guy a eulogy, or something?"

He shook his head as if he regretted having said anything, but Cole nodded.

"That'd be great, actually. We can all come."

"Me too," said Nya firmly. Jay and Kai both looked unhappy, but neither argued. Meanwhile Sensei Wu took up his staff, indicating he would come to offer the younger set any support he could.

It should have been a heartwarming moment, Cole supposed. He should be touched that they were still willing to stand together, after everything, still a team.

But all he could be was terrified that this was the last time. Teamwork was just a nice theory to all of them now. They were no more than a ragtag collection of grownups, fed up with the innocence of brotherhood; too independent to coexist for much longer.

Well. For old times' sakes, then. Just once more. Turning briskly, he led the others down from the Bounty's deck.

They headed up the mountainside in silence, each preparing in his own way. The air was cool and humid, a slimy breeze occasionally wisping down from the sky. Distant peaks loomed soft and gray through a milky haze, collecting a half-hearted canopy of clouds. It would probably rain soon.

Cole snuck a glance back at the others. Lloyd looked queasy. Could hardly blame the kid. Jay and Nya's hands were unconsciously clasped, swinging together, as Jay mouthed something to himself, forehead creased in concentration. He must already be coming up with that eulogy; that was good, Cole thought. He didn't figure Jay'd be thinking much of poetry once they got down into that blood-splattered cave.

They reached the mouth of the tunnel. Some furtive glances were traded, as if each one was trying to reassure himself that he wasn't the only reluctant one. No opposition was offered. They started in. Two steps, and the sick metallic stench of blood washed over them, whispering of flies and decay and wriggling maggots. Would there be maggots already? Cole felt the two spoonfuls of cereal he'd managed to swallow already trying to beat a hasty retreat.

Doggedly he put his head down and kept walking. One foot in front of the other; gradually you acclimated to the smell, even as it got stronger the farther down the tunnel they went. He heard some strides faltering behind him, but none that stopped entirely. Had to give them credit for that. He kept walking because he had to keep leading, but making the choice to keep following must be harder.

The tunnel opened from around them. Swirling eddies of dust caught the cloudlight filtering from the ceiling, turning it to sharply defined pillars of shimmering light. Reluctantly Cole lifted his eyes from the floor and scanned the cave chamber. He took in the burgundy dribbling marks on the wall, the massive chunks of rock scattered across the floor, and tensed for the sight of a lifeless limb or head crushed somewhere beneath it all.

No such thing.

The others slipped in alongside him, looking around with similar trepidation. Gradually they edged farther into the cave, still searching, but the Ultra Dragon was nowhere in sight. There weren't nearly enough fallen rocks to cover a body that massive . . .

They all adjusted to this new information for a bit.

"Do dragons go to the Underworld when they die?" Jay sounded like his own voice scared him.

"I guess they go . . . somewhere," said Cole.

"I hope it's better than the Underworld," said Kai heavily.

Suddenly Lloyd, who had ventured a little farther into the rubble, gave a sharp breath of surprise.

"Guys, look!" he called. "What is that?"

They all hurried over to see.

"Woah," breathed Jay. "What the . . . "

Hidden in the midst of the rubble, in a rare clear spot, was what looked like a dome of blazing light. About two feet across, it rose from the stone floor like some kind of golden soap bubble.

As they slipped closer, the light softened and resolved, turning into what was undoubtedly sunshine. In the middle of the smooth gray stone of the cave floor, a circle of brilliant green grass sparkled wherever the light covered. Leaves whirled by in an unheard breeze, disappearing eerily the minute they reached the edge of the glowing dome. It was like a half-sunken crystal ball, offering a glimpse of another dimension.

What really caught their attention, though, was the four oblong shapes set into a hollow in the grass. Eggs. Unmistakably.

Silently they gathered around the semi-orb, gazing in. There was one egg with a smooth, cool-blue surface that glittered faintly; ice. Another with a rough, nubbly, leathery brown hide; earth. One with a glinting vinyl texture, swirled with citrine and orange; fire. The last pure white, with searing blue crackles crisscrossing its surface; lightning.

"Dragons," said Jay at last, daring to break the awed silence, "have the weirdest circle of life ever."

"Pear-shaped," said Zane softly.

Kai reached out one hand.

"No, wait—"

Pop.

The second Kai's hand met the glowing surface, the portal collapsed, just like a soap bubble. The cave's darkness rushed to take its place, and a gentle puff of air blew into their faces, scented of hay and warm earth. Kai stayed frozen with his hand still in midair, looking sorry. Cole sighed.

"It's okay."

They headed up the tunnel again. The fresh, leafy smell of rain blew down towards them, soon followed by the gentle sizzle of rainfall. The shuffle of footsteps turned to a soft splap, splap sound as the floor grew wet. At the very top of the tunnel they stopped and looked out through the curtain of rain covering the cave entrance, wondering if they should brave the deluge and the slickery descent. It seemed unlikely that the rain was going to stop anytime soon, so they would probably be getting home soaked one way or another.

And yet, they all settled down inside the cave to wait. At least for a little while. It didn't seem like the kind of moment to follow up on with the chaos and indignity of trying to descend a mud-covered mountainside.

"I'm guessing that's not how dragons usually have their kids, though," said Jay at length.

"If it is, it'd explain why there's so few of 'em," said Kai drily.

"Do you think they'll come back to this dimension when they hatch?" asked Nya. She and Jay had remembered themselves by now and were sitting on opposite ends of the group.

"They could if they wanted to," said Cole, smiling ironically. "They're not from this world in the first place, you know."

"Do you think they'll remember us?"

". . . Maybe? . . . "

Everyone knew that kind of meant "no." But they were okay with that. Life was beginning anew, and breaking with the past was just part of the process.

The conversation tapered off. The sound and smell of the rain coaxed a drowsy peace over the group, and the sleepless night suddenly started catching up to them all. One by one they began to drift off. Nya fell asleep leaning against Zane, whose eyes were open but dim. He was talking to Pixal, and smiling. Kai sat a little distance away from the others with his head flung back against the cave wall, dreaming some grim dream, if his expression was any indication.

"My dad told me about these moths once," said Lloyd out of nowhere. Cole gave him a curious look, wondering why he brought this up now. There was no one else awake. Just the two of them. Youngest and oldest.

"Your dad knew moths?" he asked gently.

"Not personally." Lloyd's attempt at a laugh didn't quite make it. "But no, seriously. There was this moth family he told me about . . . Saturniidae, I think? . . . of course, there was some kind of lesson attached to it, but—heh—I don't remember it now." He rubbed the back of his head, eyes distant, but apparently continued to draw a blank. "I remember the moths, though. They could only eat when they were caterpillars. The actual moth, the adult form—it doesn't have a working mouth. It can't eat. It grows up, it changes, and then in only a little while it dies."

"Ohh . . . " Now Cole understood. "Kinda like the Ultra Dragon?"

"Yeah," Lloyd tossed a pebble through the curtain of rain. "And like us."

Cole said nothing for a moment.

"You feel it too?" he said at last.

"Yeah. It's not gonna work," replied Lloyd softly, looking at another pebble he was turning over in his palm. "The team's not going to hold together much longer."

"You were the one who wanted us to get back together, just a few months ago!" Cole kept his tone light; this was no time or place for accusations. Lloyd chuckled ruefully.

"I know. I . . . That was just me being selfish. It just . . . Everything seemed so wrong without you guys. Without us. But I shouldn't have tried to force it."

"Hey, it led to us finding Zane," said Cole. "And you were right, too. Ninjago does need someone to protect it."

"Yeah, it does. But not the way it used to. Not the way we used to. I can't do it alone, but . . . it was stupid of me to think we could just get back together and things would go back to the way they were. I thought we could fix everything if you guys would just stop fighting, if we could just get Zane back, if one thing or another. But all those things were just side effects of the bigger picture I was missing. We're different." He glanced over to Zane, metallic skin gleaming in the gray light. "Stuff changes." Now to Kai. "People change." To Jay and Nya. "Gotta deal with it."

"Deep," remarked Cole idly. Lloyd managed a lopsided smile.

"If I told you where I got it, you'd never believe me."

A pause.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Cole at last.

"We." Such a fluid term. "We" as a single unit, a family working together. "We" as separate individuals, about to drift apart. "We" as you and me, sitting here talking about it like it's not a big deal.

"Nothing," said Lloyd. "Just let things happen how they're meant to, I guess." He rested his chin on his knees, chuckling weakly. "Heck, this kind of stuff happens to everyone; dunno why it has me this far into denial. I need to grow up."

"Hmh." Cole let his eyes drift to the rainwashed world outside. "Don't we all."