Well... It's been a long, long time since I updated this, and I'm not sure how many of you are still around... But for anyone who has been enjoying this story! Here's a new chapter! Sorry it took so long. Life kinda happened in a lot of ways. Anyway, enjoy!

Nya drifts awake to the distant sound of voices.

"Ten bucks says Lloyd just dreamt it all," one says. Nya lays there, eyes still shut.

"You're on," another replies. The voices sound familiar. Shifting positions, Nya finds herself oddly dry. Almost as though she isn't at the bottom of the ocean. Is she dreaming?

"I'm telling you. She's really here!" A third voice insists, closer than before. More awake now, Nya opens her eyes. "I'm.. home?" she whispers to herself, sitting up. Yesterday's events come flooding back to her. The intensity of breaking free from the water. The ride to the monastery with Nyad. Finally seeing her family again, safely tucked into bed.

Her room looks exactly how she left it. Nya soaks in the familiarity, finding it energizing. The sunlight streaming through the window feels so good on her skin.

"It seems someone has finally noticed your arrival," Nyad comments as Lloyd comes flying into the bedroom like a child on Christmas morning.

"Lloyd!" cries Nya, sweeping him into a hug. She's pretty sure they're both crying within seconds, but she's certainly not going to be the one to point it out. It's been so long. Too long.

"I've missed you so much," Lloyd mumbles. He returns the hug so fiercely, Nya wonders if she'll need a crowbar to remove him. In the background, she's pretty sure she hears Cole curse. Looking over at him, Nya sees him pass something to her brother, who looks just a bit too self satisfied.

"It's not what it looks like," Kai blurts, seeing her expression.

"As if I'd ever believe that," Nya laughs, "now get over here."

She drags both Kai and Cole into the hug, marveling at how good it feels to be near them again.

Pixal and Zane join them a short while later.

"I saw you on the Samurai X security footage this morning," Pixal explains.

"It's a very good thing we never changed any of your passwords," Zane adds.

"I don't know if you meant to do that or not, but I'm glad you didn't." Nya gives them both a hug.

"We had made the choice to honor the legacy of the original Samurai X in your absence," Pixal explains with a smile.

"Well, thank you," Nya says, returning the smile gratefully, "Oh! It's so good to see all of you again!"

"And I am very glad to finally meet the master of water's friends. She speaks quite highly of you all," Nyad cuts in. The others stare, as if only just noticing her presence.

"Nyad, I presume?" Zane inquires. Nyad nods, giving a little bow.

"Indeed I am,"

"I would never have made it out of the ocean without her-" Nya starts. There's so much to tell everyone. And so much to catch up on.

Just then, another figure appears in the doorway. For a moment, all is quiet.

"Jay!" Nya exclaims, moving to greet him. But he looks less than enthusiastic about her presence.

"Oh, no. I'm not doing this right now," he says coldly. And just like that, he's gone. Nya stares after him in shock.

"Are you sure this Jay is worth all the praise I have had to listen to when you speak of him?" Nyad asks, looking equally shocked and a little unimpressed.

"I-I," Nya's not sure what to say. It hadn't crossed her mind that her boyfriend might not be happy to see her. She blinks, her eyes suddenly wet.

"So, um, you guys look pretty busy with… whatever this is," a voice interjects, rescuing Nya from having to say anything coherent, "but since all we had to eat for dinner last night was wedding cake samples, I was thinking I'd make some pancakes, if anyone else wants some?"

"Skye," Kai greets awkwardly. At the same time, Skylor continues, "Wait - Nya - you're back?"

"Um… yes?" Nya replies, still reeling from Jay's unexpected outburst.

"Welcome home! I had a feeling you'd turn up sooner or later," Skylor says with a wink. She gives Nya a quick hug. "You've definitely been missed, here."

"Just a little bit, though. It's not like we were worried you were never coming back or anything," Lloyd snorts. Nya flinches.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"And on that note, I think I'm gonna go punch Jay for you, Nya. See you at breakfast?" Cole comments, heading for the door. Skylor frowns at this.

"I take it Jay's being emo again?"

Again? Nya wonders.

"You could say that," Lloyd answers for her.

"Pancakes would be great," Kai tells Skylor, kissing her cheek. "Why don't you guys go ahead and get started, and Nya and I will be down in a few to help."

"Sure thing," Lloyd says, "but you'd better not keep her too long. The rest of us wanna catch up too."

As the others, including Nyad (who mentioned wondering what a modern kitchen looked like), trail out of her room, Nya sinks back into her bed.

"Give it to me straight, Kai. How bad is it?" she asks.

"Well, in the history of bad things, you being gone for six months isn't the worst thing that could've happened," Kai comments, seating himself beside her.

Nya puts her head in her hands. "Six months?" she mumbles. "No wonder Jay hates me…"

Kai puts a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think he hates you. He's just… he's gonna need some time to forgive you. Even if you didn't mean to disappear like that."

"I guess I can't really blame him for being mad at me…" Nya sighs and glances at her brother. "I mean, I remember what it was like when we lost Zane - how much that hurt. And I'm Jay's girlfriend. At least I was. I'm sure that made it even worse for him."

"I won't lie, we were all upset and worried. And maybe a little bit angry at times. But Jay? I don't think I've ever seen him act like he did… And that's saying something, because we've both seen him react poorly to stuff." Kai states. Nya nods. Unlike the rest of her family, she hasn't forgotten the time Jay tried to use a djinn to win her back. It didn't go well.

"But this was something else. For the first few weeks after you disappeared, he would spend hours down on the beach just staring. Then, when we started worrying about him being down there all by himself all the time, he started bringing the sea back with him instead. He had jars of seawater in his room and he talked to them like you could somehow hear him."

"Oh." Nya has no idea what to say.

"Yeah… it was pretty weird. But then one day he lost it. He dumped all the water down the toilet and threw the jars off the monastery roof. After that he was just… Quiet. Quiet and angry. None of us could figure out what had changed."

Poor Jay. He must have given up on her completely. And Nya kinda deserves it. She got to drift through the past 6 months without thinking or remembering enough to feel anything. Jay had to live through it all with every human emotion, every memory. Every bit of hurt and doubt.

"Ugh… What a mess," she moans, half wondering if she should have just stayed in the ocean.

"You can say that again," Kai agrees unhelpfully. Seeing the look of misery on her face, he adds, "Listen, Nya. Jay will get over himself eventually, and you saw how excited everyone else was to see you. Don't let a little awkwardness get to you. I'm sure once we've all had a chance to readjust, things will be back to normal in no time."

"I guess you're right," Nya says reluctantly. Hopefully with time and lots of apologies, she could make things up to everyone.

"Of course I am," Kai tells her, "Now let's go get some breakfast before Lloyd pours syrup in my bed for holding you hostage."

"Yeah… that's probably a good idea." Nya pushes herself up from the bed. Kai joins her, and together, they head down the hallway. They've almost arrived at the kitchen when something occurs to Nya. "Hey Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"Skylor mentioned wedding cake samples… Anything you wanna tell me?" Nya asks. Kai freezes.

"Oh. Uh. About that…" he begins awkwardly.

"Congratulations, Kai," she tells him, finally smiling again.