Hey guys! Sorry I took so long with this chapter, but I'm glad I got it up! I was kinda waiting for the whole review problem to clear up, and now that it has, I decided to post the next chapter of "A Grief Observed"! Whoopdeedoo!

Hope you guys had a fun New Year's Eve thingymajiggy! I stayed up till midnight . . . New York time, that is. And no, I'm not from New York, so I didn't stay up until midnight.

School started back up for me. I had . . . lemme think . . . five weeks off. Good grief. Oh, in case you're wondering why, I'm homeschooled, so that can give you a slight advantage in the break department.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I've almost got the next one done.

4. Hard Blow

Sensei Wu jumped off his Elemental dragon and hurried into the hospital, being careful not to run into anyone as he scanned the lobby for his pupils. Cole, Zane, Kai, Lloyd, and Nya were huddled in a corner of the waiting room, the signs of grief clearly visible on their faces. Cole's face was streaked with tear tracks, Zane's metal cheeks were slightly white and his eyes seemed bluer than usual, Kai's amber-brown eyes were red and puffy, Lloyd's jacket sleeve looked slightly damp, and Nya kept blowing her nose and swiping at her face with one arm. "Hello, my students," Wu addressed them quietly, taking a seat next to Cole.

"Hey, Sensei," the boys chorused morosely. Nya just nodded.

Wu noticed that one of his students was missing. "Where is Jay?" he asked.

"With his dad," Nya managed to squeak, her voice heavy with uncried sobs. Kai put an arm comfortingly around his little sister.

Sensei knew that they'd all been affected by Ed's death, Nya especially out of the other five. "What are we supposed to do?" Lloyd asked, rolling up his damp sleeve and blowing his nose with a loud honk. "We've all experienced this kind of loss before, but somehow this feels . . . different."

Zane nodded in agreement. "I think it is because we all came to know Mr. Walker for a longer period of time, and we felt like a part of Jay's family through him," he said. "The loss of a parent is hard to bear, but sometimes the loss of a parent-like figure is just as hard."

"Wise words, Zane," Sensei Wu said quietly. "And there is definitely truth in what you speak."

"But what can we do to help him now?" Cole asked, blinking unnaturally fast to fight back more tears.

"Jay will need help in getting everything organized," Sensei said. "Fortunately, I know what Ed wants done, as does his mother." He glanced upwards, toward the doors into the hospital complex. "Here comes Jay."

Jay walked up to the six in their corner of the lobby. His sea-blue eyes were red and puffy, and his ginger auburn hair was more disheveled than usual. His face was blotched and stained with tear tracks, and he sniffled visibly. "Hey, guys," he greeted his friends. "Hi, Sensei."

"Hey," the others said.

After returning Jay's salutation, Sensei asked quietly, "How are you holding up?"

Jay wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I'm not gonna cry," he said, trying to sound like he meant it.

"Okay," Wu replied mildly. He wasn't sure how long Jay could make good on that statement.

"Never mind," Jay squeaked, burying his head in his hands as he collapsed into the empty seat between Zane and his sensei, fresh tears pouring down his cheeks. "Oh, he's gone, Sensei!" he cried, voice cracking and sounding like a high-pitched whimper. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Sensei gently placed a hand on his student's heaving shoulder. "Oh, Jay, I'm so sorry," he murmured gently, unsure how else to soothe his distraught pupil.

"I'm not prepared for this at all," Jay moaned, his sobs and his voice muffled by his hands.

He felt Zane's metal hand on his back. "We'll help you with everything, Jay," the Nindroid said quietly, gently rubbing his friend's back in a calming gesture.

"Your father gave me a copy of his will and last wishes," Sensei Wu told his student.

Jay jerked his head out of his hands. "What?" he said, in slight disbelief. "Why did he give those to you and not me?"

"I think he figured I could help you, along with your mother," Sensei explained gently.

Jay gave his eyes another swipe. "And next you're gonna tell me you knew he had heart condition, right?" he croaked.

"We-e-ell . . . " Wu fidgeted nervously with his kimono collar.

Jay squeaked in pained shock. "What?! Did he publish that in the church newsletter and I missed that email?!"

"He didn't want you to worry," Sensei said, quickly enough to assure his pupil that was his father's intentions, but kindly enough that his message was taken the right way. "He gave me his papers because he was afraid you might not be able to cope very well with the arrangements."

"I'm not nine anymore," Jay muttered.

"He was only thinking of you," Sensei assured him.

"Yeah, I know," Jay mumbled, sitting upright and taking off his jacket. Both sleeves were damp with tears, and it didn't help that Jay was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt on a cold, blustery, late November afternoon. As he rubbed his arms to keep warm, Nya noticed how pale they looked compared to his face. "But in trying to protect me," he said, blowing his nose into a tissue offered by Zane, "I feel like he's made me even more vulnerable."

"Well, what can we do for you now, Jay?" Lloyd asked gently.

"I don't know, Lloyd," Jay sniffled, blowing his nose again with a loud honk. He exhaled deeply. "Dr. Jones said I had to fill out some paperwork, and decide which funeral home . . ."

"Ah, Alderwood Funeral Home," Sensei Wu said. "It's in your father's final instructions."

Jay sighed again. "Maybe we should look at that stuff," he said weakly.

"Everything's back at the dojo," Wu said.

Jay scrubbed at his eyes again. "To be honest, Sensei, I think I should do that stuff with Mom," he said quietly. "She's gonna need family nearby."

"Well, she's always welcome to come live with us for as long as she likes," Kai said, sneezing as a gust of cold air come in through the door.

"I'll let her know," Jay said, with a feeble effort at his old grin. But his weak smile faded only seconds later. "I just feel so . . . empty," he murmured miserably. "Everything seems empty."

The old sensei nodded empathetically. "You're going to feel a lot of different emotions, Jay," he told him quietly. "They come in waves, sometimes when you least expect them. And they don't always make sense."

Jay nodded. "I feel like that most of the time," he said. His friends chuckled weakly at his attempt at a joke. Then the Blue Ninja buried his face in his hands. "I just wasn't ready for it," he said, new tears trickling down his cheeks.

Zane put an arm around his friend's shoulder. He was unsure how to comfort Jay, as he hadn't experienced the sudden death of a family member before. When his father died, Zane had been expecting it, as he was old and wasn't supposed to be alive in the first place. The loss hurt painfully, but not in an unexpected, shock kind of pain.

"He's gone," Jay murmured, eyes drooping as his tired body began to drift away, "and I wasn't ready for it . . ."

Zane gave his teammate a brotherly squeeze as Jay fell asleep, head resting against Zane's shoulder.

Okay, to some of you who may ship yaoi and yuri, that last part might look to you like a Technoship moment. But I want to make this clear: I do not ship yaoi or yuri, and I never will. I happen to think of Jay and Zane as BBFLs (Best Friends Forever for Life), not . . . anything beyond that.

Hope you liked it! NinjagoMasterOfTheForce OUT!

#God's Not Dead!

#Lightning Forever!