Destiny was beginning to become frustrated and overstrung, her and Master Wu had been sitting in the middle of her room meditating for hours now. At first it had been fine, and even somewhat relaxing. However, as the hours stretched on the few thoughts that had slowly poured into her hyperactive mind steadily became too much for her handle.

It started off with her thinking about last night, and the longer she kept her eyes closed the further into her past her subconscious wandered to. Memories of how her life used to be, and nostalgia of her childhood flooded her senses. She couldn't help but yearn to go back to the good times, and days when she was happy. Simultaneously though her heart broke each time she reminded herself that with every passing minute the past slipped through her fingers more and more. The past was gone, and there would be no getting it back.

Not to mention that the more distant the past got that only served to fuel the young teen's anxiety for the future. She wasn't ready to let go. How could she? She begged for time to stop, to reverse, just so that she could live in her childhood one last time. Destiny could feel her body begin to shake. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Destiny? What is wrong?" Master Wu's voice broke through Destiny's thoughts, and she turned to look up at him. She was in distress, she couldn't breathe. Had her throat always felt this tight?

"Destiny, you need to calm down. You need to breathe." Master Wu attempted to calm down the panicked girl. After some time passed Destiny was able to focus on the slow breaths of the old man in front of her, and calmed down enough to finally speak.

"I- I'm sorry." She struggled to apologize, looking at Master Wu with tired eyes.

"Do not apologize, child. Tell me, what ails you so much?" The spinjitzu Master waited patiently for the yellow clad girl to answer, but she was having trouble pulling together the right words.

"I- I don't know. I don't know how to explain it." Destiny paused as she attempted to string together an intelligible thought. "It- It's like I can't breathe Master Wu. I want so badly to return to the past that it hurts, and with each passing moment that feeling only gets worse and worse. It's like someone chained me to the bottom of a pool that's filling up with water, and I'm running out of air to breathe, like I can barely get my head above the surface." Destiny explains, the atmosphere around her now showing just how exhausted she was.

"I see." Master Wu spoke softly, stroking his beard before continuing. "Do you have the key that unlocks the chains that keep you tethered?" The old man questioned, looking at the young girl expectantly.

"I- well, yes… I suppose so…" Destiny trailed off.

"Then why do you choose to remain trapped?"

"I want to, but I can't let go-" Destiny tried to argue.

"Why not?" Master Wu asked, raising an eyebrow as he continued to stroke his beard.

"Because I can't." Destiny somewhat shouted, she could feel herself becoming stressed again.

"Why can't you let go?" Master Wu pressed, he was not letting up.

"Because I can't let him go!" Destiny yelled, nearly breaking into a fit of sobs as the tears finally ran down her cheeks. "I can't let him go okay!? I-… I'm afraid that if I let him go then I'm going to forget him. I don't want it to be over. I don't want him to be gone! I- I just want to be happy…" Destiny struggled to say as she finally began to cry. Master Wu waited for his student to calm down again before speaking up.

"Destiny." The girl looked up at the sound of her name. "Yearning for the past so dearly will only serve to blind you to what is going on in front of you. If you spend the rest of your life living in the past then the present will pass you by, and you'll wake up in a future where you are alone because you have pushed everyone away. Once you open your eyes and appreciate the present, you will finally realize that to find happiness you must simply look around you."

"I don't, I don't understand." The yellow clad girl sniffled.

"You must let go." Master Wu placed a gentle hand onto Destiny's shoulder. "And notice that although your happiness can no longer come from the same place, that does not mean that it is unobtainable." Destiny could feel her eyes water again at her Sensei's words. She had to let her father go.

"Okay." Destiny responded with a shaky voice, pursing her lips together to stop them from quivering as she fought against her tears. This time she succeeded, and as she felt the tears reside she took in a deep breath. She had to move on if she were to ever heal.

Once Destiny was calmed down Master Wu decided they had done enough training for the day. He knew the young girls' weakness now, that of letting go of the past. With enough guidance he had no doubt that one day she would be able to overcome her weakness and grow stronger from it. For now though she had confronted it, and that was enough.

As the pair of them stood up the elder reached into the long draping sleeve of his robe and pulled out a key. He then moved over to the door, inserting the key before turning it, unlocking the door. Destiny was a bit shocked, she hadn't even noticed they'd been locked in in the first place. After grabbing his cup and teapot Master Wu led the way down the hall, and into the dining room where everyone else was currently huddled around the table. The sudden presence of Master Wu caught the groups' attention, and they all stopped what they were doing to look over at him.

"Master Wu?" Lloyd was interrupted by the older man holding a hand up to stop him.

"I believe there are more important matters to attend to, than to ask me questions." Master Wu spoke with a soft smile as he waited for his students to notice the person standing nervously in the doorway. It didn't take long, and the Master of Earth was the first one to spot the small form of Destiny swaying anxiously.

"Destiny-" Cole began to speak.

"Wait. Before you guys say anything." Destiny took in a deep breath to help calm her nerves, now everyone was looking at her. "I just want to apologize for what happened. I'm so sorry for everything I have put you guys through, and I am so, so sorry for making things so hard. I feel so guilty and, honestly, words can't even begin to express how much regret I have. I understand if you guys are mad or upset with me, or both. I also understand if you never forgive me, but I just needed to-" The yellow clad had been struggling to make eye contact with the ninja throughout her apology, and had moved her sights to look at the floor. So she hadn't noticed when one of them got up, and was now stunned silent as she felt a strong pair of arms wrap her into a warm embrace. Before long more arms embraced her, until all the ninja were enveloped in a large group hug.

Destiny felt a huge wave of relief wash over her, and she did her best to fight back tears again as she hugged everyone back. Unlike before these tears were tears of joy, and she couldn't have been happier at the fact that they all silently forgave her.

"We're here for you Destiny." Lloyd spoke up.

"Yeah, you don't need to go through anything alone." Nya added.

"If you ever find yourself getting overwhelmed don't be afraid to come and talk to us about it. Okay?" Jay explained.

"We got your back." Kai chimed in.

"Indeed." Zane said with a smile.

"And stop apologizing so much short stack." Cole teased. Although he had a smile on his face his eyes were glazed with unfallen tears. "Just promise that you won't forget that we're here for you." Destiny smiled at the other ninja.

"I promise." Destiny answered, finally pulling away from the group hug.

"Good." The Master of Earth smiled back. With that the hug was disbanded and the ninja all took a moment to wipe the wetness from their eyes, silently giving one another reassuring glances and small gestures of comfort. They were all here, and they were all okay.

"Ninja, were you able to find out any information from our guest?" Master Wu questioned, pouring himself and Misako some tea. The ninja all took back the spots where they had been standing around the table previously.

"Yes, actually." Kai spoke up.

"Nya finally got the guy to talk." Jay added, shooting his girlfriend a proud smile.

"What guest? Who are you guys talking about?" Destiny questioned, unaware of the 'Shapeshifter' that was currently in their captivity.

"Last night there was a group of 'Shapeshifter' goons that were trying to sneak aboard the Bounty. Cole stopped them though, and we were able to bring one of them back for questioning." Nya answered.

"His name is Jimmy Foulston, he has been working as part of the 'Shapeshifters' gang for several months now. He also provided us with a detailed layout of Yuraggi's base of operations, as well as the schedules of the patrols." Zane explained as he motioned to the large blueprint that was sprawled out onto the table.

It had numerous markings on it of what Destiny assumed to be the patrol routes, as well as a number of circles and X's at specific spots. Cameras perhaps? Each of the ninja also had their own notepad in front of them that they seemed to be using to jot down ideas.

"I take it you guys are trying to come up with a plan on how to infiltrate Yuraggi's base then?" The yellow clad girl asked, looking away from the messy table top and back to the ninja.

"Yep. It's proving harder than expected though." Cole confirmed as he studied his notepad that was in his hand.

"You guys have snuck into places before haven't you? I mean, you guys are ninja after all." Destiny was confused as to why Yuraggi's hideout seemed to be so much harder to get into undetected.

"We have, but Yuraggi has her base fortified pretty well, and since it's already in an abandoned tunnel she's aware of all the weak spots and reinforced them." Nya informed, her expression was one of frustration as she stared down the blueprints in front of all of them.

"What if we go undercover instead of trying to sneak in?" Jay suggested.

"We can't Jay, it's too risky. While Jimmy was able to answer most of our questions about Yurragi's base he was unsure if she is in possession of Vengestone." Zane said sadly.

"If we went undercover and were discovered we could be sitting ducks without our elemental powers." Lloyd added, a frown present on his face.

"We have to do something." Destiny said sadly. She was worried about her mother still.

"We?" Kai questioned. Before Destiny could answer him though Lloyd spoke up.

"We know you're worried about your mom Destiny, but Jimmy told us she's okay. Yuraggi has her held in some sort of makeshift prison cell. Jimmy doesn't know what Yuraggi is planning to do with her, all he was able to tell us is that she needs you to be there for it." The green ninja explained.

"Yeah, apparently whatever big plan Yurragi has up her sleeve you're at the center of it." Nya clarified.

"I can't help you guys..?" The short brunette girl questioned. There was no way they were shoving her to the sidelines again, right? The ninja all frowned, and that was all Destiny needed to see to know the answer to her question. Cole looked up from his notepad and set it down onto the table.

"I'm sorry Destiny, it's just too dangerous. If you came with us then we'd just be giving Yuraggi what she's wanted this whole time." The black ninja stated sadly.

All the ninja felt bad about having Destiny stay on the Bounty. They knew if the tables were turned they'd all be frustrated, and from experience as well that none of them would stay put if someone they cared about was in harm's way.

Destiny frowned at the black ninjas' words. She knew he was right, and if it was already hard enough for the trained ninja's to sneak in she would just hold them back by tagging along. Even though the yellow clad teen was technically adopted into the ninja now she had no experience or proper training to defend herself. Destiny was just Destiny as far as she was concerned. However, the facts didn't change the way she felt about the whole situation.

Her mother was in trouble, and regardless of how strained their relationship was at the moment that didn't mean they didn't still care for one another. If Destiny was the one who had gotten captured she knew her mother wouldn't rest until she was safe. So it was only right for Destiny to do everything she could in turn to save her mother. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if anything happened to her. Suddenly the young girl came up with a plan.

"Well, you guys keep trying to figure something out. I need to use the bathroom, so I'll be right back." Destiny spoke up, and the black ninja turned once again to look at her.

"Do you need someone to go with you?" The raven haired boy asked. He didn't quite process how weird the words were going to sound before they were already out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't- I just meant, are you going to be okay going on your own?"

Destiny understood the source of the black ninjas' worry, but gave him a soft smile before speaking.

"I'm pretty sure I know how to use the bathroom on my own Cole." Destiny joked with a soft giggle. Her response caused a few snickers, as well as an embarrassed dust of pink to tint the Earth ninjas' cheeks. "I promise I'll be okay." Destiny reassured the ninja, and he gave her a small nod before she left the room.

Did Destiny really need to use the bathroom? The answer was no. She just needed a decent excuse that would buy her enough time to follow through with her plan before the ninja noticed she was gone.

The yellow clad girl searched the halls of the Bounty for a few minutes, opening and closing numerous doors before finally finding what she was looking for. Step one of her plan, to find the 'Shapeshifters' goon that was currently aboard. As she walked into the questioning room and closed the door behind her the man looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Destiny really is here. I guess Johnny wasn't lying when he said she was rescued by the ninja." The man stated.

"Hi, Jimmy right?" Destiny asked a bit shyly as she approached the man. Jimmy nodded in confirmation to her question. "Great! Look Jimmy, I could really use your help."

"Help? Why does Destiny need Jimmy's help?" Jimmy questioned, his surprised expression now replaced with a look of confusion.

"Yurragi, she has my mother, and I need help rescuing her." Destiny explained sadly.

"Jimmy thought that the ninja were going to rescue Janissa Pierce?" Jimmy asked.

"They are planning to, but, in all honesty they're not getting anywhere. They can't come up with a plan that will work to get her back. I was thinking that maybe if just you and I went we'd have a better shot? I mean, you know the base like the back of your hand. Plus, with just the two of us our group will be smaller than the ninja's, so there's less people to get caught." Destiny stated, trying her best to persuade Jimmy to help her.

"Jimmy don't know… that sounds dangerous. If Yuraggi catches Jimmy and Destiny-"

"Please Jimmy… I just want my mom to be safe." Destiny pleaded. Jimmy hesitated to answer as he thought over everything Destiny had said. He knew if they got caught then that'd be the end of both of them and Janissa Pierce. At the same time though Jimmy couldn't settle the aching in his heart as he studied the poor girl. He was partially responsible for all the pain she must have been feeling, not to mention that Jimmy knew what it was like to want to make sure your family was safe. Jimmy finally let out the breath he had been holding.

"Okay. Jimmy will help Destiny save her mother."

"Oh thank you Jimmy!" Destiny exclaimed happily as she hugged the tied up gang member. After she finished hugging him Destiny undid the rope around Jimmy's arms.

"Alright, we need to get off the ship quickly. Before the others realize we're gone."

Jimmy nodded silently and stayed behind the young girl as she led them both through the winding halls. They were on their way to Yuraggi's base.