AN: I have no comments today, so let me just ask... How is everybody doing this week? :)

Review Replies
Tomura-chan: Oh my gosh, I would love that! Please let me know when you do. :D

2240713356: "Treacherous noodle angel" was one of my favorite things to put in. XD If I could do chatfics on this site, it would definitely be Abby's nickname.
Hm, yes, the plot is thickening, and it only gets better from here...

While Morro was still at the forefront of my mind, now that we didn't have to worry about him actively trying to conquer Ninjago, I used the extra time to begin planning for our next threats. I already felt Nadakhan would be pretty easy to avoid. Clouse was in the Cursed Realm, and all I had to do was locate Nadakhan's teapot. I knew it was in Stiix, and I even had a theory on its exact location. I only hoped my hunch was correct.

Next came the Time Twins. I figured the trickiest part would be capturing Acronix, but we might be able to weaken him by getting to Krux early and halting progress on the Vermillion army. And, of course, I had to tell Kai and Nya about their parents. It wasn't fair to keep them in the dark any longer. I had decided to give everyone about a day to recover from battling Morro before I hit them with the next bombshell.

It was shortly after breakfast, and I had followed Nya to the barn behind the tea shop, where she kept her Samurai X mech and weapons. With Morro captured, she was taking a well-earned break from developing her powers to fine-tune her mech. As we walked, the girl chatted blithely to me about technical bits and bobs that I didn't fully understand, but I listened politely anyway. When she finally paused for a moment to take a breath, I jumped in.

"Nya, there's something I have to talk to you about," I blurted out. The girl immediately stopped in her tracks, giving me a wary, slightly frightened look.

"Is it serious?" she asked. I bit my lip and nodded. She blew out a breath, "Is it future stuff?"

I grimaced, "Little bit of future, little bit of past. I'll… need Kai, too."

Nya's expression went stony, "Is it about our parents?"

I sighed and nodded again. Slowly, the girl let out a soft, keening groan as she let her head fall into her hands. I felt a bit guilty at her distress. I knew the changes I brought hadn't been easy for her, and she didn't seem comfortable discussing anything about her parents. Still, I also knew she and Kai would be glad to hear this kind of news. Quickly, I walked over and gave her a comforting pat on the back.

"Don't worry," I said, "It's a good thing. Let's get Kai, and I'll tell you everything. I promise."

Nya picked her head up, giving me a searching look. I smiled encouragingly in reply. The girl sighed, but dropped her hands, squared her shoulders, and nodded.

"All right," she said, fixing me with a steely gaze of determination, "Let's get it over then."

My smile turned into a grin of anticipation. The two of us backtracked to the shop, our steps quick and eager. By some stroke of luck, we found Kai almost immediately, helping Cole and Zane do some last-minute detail work on the rafters. The second we walked in, Nya ran over and kicked the ladder Kai was standing on. The Fire Ninja let out an undignified yelp as he wobbled precariously, and Zane quickly rushed over to steady the ladder. For a second, I was worried Kai might fall, but he managed to regain his balance. He clung to one of the rafters tightly as he shot a smoldering glare down at his sister.

"What gives, Nya?!" he shouted. Nya returned his dark look with a devilish grin, but her amusement faded an instant later as she got down to business.

"Abby's got something to tell us," she said, jabbing a thumb at me, "It's about our parents."

Bang!

The hammer slipped from Kai's hand, thudding against the floor as he gaped at Nya in shock.

"Are… are you serious?!" he gasped, scrambling down the ladder so quickly that it shook. Zane gave the Fire Ninja a disapproving look, but Kai didn't even notice as he rushed over to me. His amber eyes gleamed with excitement as he spoke in a breathless, disbelieving voice, "Is it about how they disappeared?"

"Um… yes," I responded, my gaze flicking self-consciously to Zane and Cole, "Let's talk about it alone, and then…"

Kai followed my eyes to the other two ninja in the room, and he blinked as though just remembering they were there.

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled, suddenly looking sheepish, "Do you guys mind if we..?"

"Are you kidding?" Cole said, looking just as eager as Kai. He marched over and started pushing the Fire Ninja out the door, "Go!"

"I hope it is good news, Kai," Zane said with an encouraging smile.

"It is," I added quickly, "Let's go to my room on the Bounty. We can talk there."

Less than ten minutes later, Kai and Nya sat impatiently on my bed as I shut my door and locked it for good measure. Everyone was usually pretty good about not barging into my personal space, but I didn't want to risk any interruptions. Once I was sure no one would enter unexpectedly, I returned to the siblings.

"Your parents are alive," I said before either of them could speak.

"What?!" Kai exclaimed as Nya's jaw dropped.

"Mmhm," I nodded, "I'll tell you how to find them in a second, but first, you need to know why they disappeared in the first place."

"They didn't just… leave?" Nya said disbelievingly. Kai whirled his head to look at her, shocked, but the expression quickly morphed into something soft and sad.

"Is that what you think happened?" he asked quietly, and Nya bit her lip, avoiding the boy's gaze.

"I know you always hoped that… they'd come back," she confessed in a small voice, sounding ashamed, "That they didn't leave us on purpose, but… I never knew them. It was always just you and me, and the thought of some parent I never knew coming back for us… It was easier to believe they left and wouldn't come back. Easier to forget..."

Kai flinched, looking wounded by his sister's admission. He didn't say anything, however, as he wrapped his arms around her, and she returned the hug tightly. I smiled at the siblings' gestures, though I also felt a pang of homesickness. I missed my own siblings…

I swallowed and quickly shook the feeling off as I spoke, "No, they didn't leave on purpose. They…" I hesitated, "Uh, let me start at the beginning."

"Why can't you just tell us?" Kai asked, an edge of frustration in his voice. I held up a hand in a signal for patience.

"There's a history you need to know," I answered, "I'll be as brief as I can. So shortly after the Serpentine Wars, these two Elemental Masters turned on the others. They were Krux and Acronix, the twin Elemental Masters of Time. The other Masters were unable to beat them with power alone, so they had to use cunning. Sensei Wu and Garmadon enlisted your parents to fashion four blades out of Chronosteel, a metal that can absorb elemental powers. They stripped the Time Twins of their powers and then used the blades to banish them into time, however that works. Everyone thought the twins and the blades would be lost for good. What they didn't know was that Krux emerged from the time vortex only a few moments after being banished. He managed to escape detection and started to plot revenge. He started by kidnapping your parents."

"I knew it!" Kai burst out, leaping to his feet as he punched a fist in the air, "I knew they didn't leave us on purpose!"

Nya muttered darkly under her breath before locking her sharp eyes on me, "Where are they now?"

"Somewhere in the Toxic Bogs," I responded, "I don't know the exact location, but Krux has a map. If you go for him, you can either force him to take you there or get his map."

"All right," Kai said, punching a fist into his palm as his eyes flashed dangerously, "Where is the slimy traitor then?"

I grimaced, "You probably won't like it. Krux has been in disguise for the last forty years. He currently works as the Ninjago Museum's curator, Doctor Sander Saunders."

Kai's angry expression faltered briefly as his eyes widened, and Nya popped a hand to her forehead.

"Oh, duh," she exclaimed loudly, "That's why you didn't want us telling him anything when we went to catch Morro."

"Cyah!" I replied, letting a note of incredulity creep into my voice as my professional facade slipped, "The guy has been giving me the creeps for weeks."

"I… why didn't you tell us then?!" Kai sputtered, "We could have nabbed him and Morro the other night!"

"Because—no offense!—I didn't want you guys getting distracted," I confessed, "I'm sorry; really, I am, but these things have to be dealt with in order of time sensitivity. Krux and your parents aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Morro was the more imminent threat. Now that he's dealt with, you guys have all the time you need to arrest Krux and rescue your parents."

"Wait, so our parents are a distraction now?!" I flinched at Kai's furious tone. That wasn't what I meant.

"No, I…" I sighed, trying to figure out a way to voice my reasoning to the brunet, "Look at it this way; it was either save your parents immediately and risk Lloyd to Morro, or take care of Morro first and save your parents later. There's… no gentle way to say that they could wait. Morro couldn't."

The boy frowned, looking like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. I felt a twinge of guilt at making the situation a choice between Lloyd and Kai's parents, but what was done was done. I needed the siblings to focus so I could help them now. Nya, thankfully, seemed to understand as she grabbed Kai's wrist and gently tugged him into his seat.

"So what do we do now?" she asked. Instantly, her brother was back on his feet.

"We go after Krux, obviously!" he fumed.

"That's kinda why I told you first thing this morning," I admitted, "I figured a rescue shouldn't take more than a day. You should take Sensei Wu since he's dealt with Krux before. And," I added quickly as Kai made a move toward the door, "There's a couple of things you need to know."

Kai let out a noise of protest, but Nya shot him a glare.

"Come on, Kai, she's trying to help," the girl scolded, rolling her eyes, "Let's hear her out."

"It'll only take a minute," I promised as the Fire Ninja reluctantly trudged back to the bed, "First of all, do you remember the room we passed the other night? The one with the big, stone snake fountain and the weird throne?"

Kai looked nonplussed, but Nya nodded slowly.

"I remember," she said, "I think you pointed out those exact exhibits."

"I did that on purpose," I replied with a small smirk, "Krux has a secret lab that can be accessed from that room. You have to push down the back of the throne, and a panel will slide aside on the wall to reveal the lab. I'd make sure you nab Krux or at least know where he is first, because if he's in the lab, he'll be able to see you coming with the periscope in the snake fountain."

"Secret room; activate with the throne; watch for snakes, got it," Kai said impatiently, "What else?"

I huffed, "This one's the most important. Krux has been breeding these snakes in his lab both in the museum and at his base in the Toxic Bogs. He calls them Vermillion. They're pretty small on their own, but their purpose is to form together to create humanoid warriors. Difficult to knock down, and almost impossible to keep down. Their weakness is that they need some kind of armor or a shell to hold themselves together. When you knock 'em down, you have to separate them from their armor so they can't reform. Then they're just harmless, mindless snakes."

"Okay…" Nya murmured, her brow furrowed as she stared at the ground thoughtfully, "So, just to recap; Krux has a map to our parents. We arrest him, then go to his secret lab, which is activated by pushing the back of the throne next to the stone snake fountain. Watch out for little snakes that can turn into snake-people."

"You got it," I responded, giving the girl a smile, "I think that's all I've got for now. I'll let you two take it from here."

Kai was out the door in an instant. I could hear him barreling down the hall, yelling for Sensei Wu. I laughed a little at his eagerness as Nya sighed and rolled her eyes. She stood and started to follow her brother, but stopped. Glancing back, she gave me a tentative smile.

"Thanks, Abby," she said, "Even though I agree with Kai and think you should have told us sooner…"

I winced, "Maybe? I just… was trying to think about what's best for everyone."

The girl frowned, and she looked like she disagreed, but she only said, "Okay."

As she turned and started out, I called after her, "Good luck!"

"Luck?" she scoffed, some of her old confidence returning as she tossed me a wink, "We don't need luck. With the way Kai is right now, Krux doesn't stand a chance."

AN: I have a headcanon that Nya acts cool and mature most of the time, but she likes to do small, childish things to tease Kai.

Please review!