"She is the Queen, Pop. And the Upply, my gang, are her advisors. They don't have titles, only responsibility. Halmarr is her head of the guard and security for the palace." Lou Brookstone rubbed his head as he tried to piece together the names his son was sharing. The two men were on the deck of the Bounty, watching the city below them fade away. In the cabin, the Walkers were discussing accents and different pronunciations of Ninjago words with Karloff.

The last time Cole had walked into grab something, he noticed Karloff's girlfriend just gazing out the window absent of the conversation. She apparently only spoke fluent Metallonian. The baby in a dark-colored wrap was sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of the danger she and her family were in, or that they were flying through the air on their way to an equally flying kingdom. Cole felt bad for the woman, but she had Karloff to speak to, and would have others in Shintaro since a small group of Metallonians had moved there. Vania was excited about that, she had been bouncing at the aspect of opening her kingdom and culture to others the last time they had spoken. Cole was pulled from his musing by his father beginning to speak again.

"Son, it seems to me that you had quite the fan club in Shintaro, including this young Queen. Were you at all compelled to stay?" The Earth Ninja sent a shocked look towards his father, who had asked the question out of genuine interest. Lou might not be as intelligent as his son in matters of combat or elemental control- but he knew love. And he knew what a powerful motivator it could be. His son was both a lover and a fighter.

When he was very young, Cole had been a clingy little boy, always touching Lou or his mother in some way. After Lilly passed away, Lou had failed to foster the love his son knew when they were a whole family. Cole grew distant, then went to school and although Lou didn't hear from him much, he read the letters that came, and was proud of his son from afar. Of course, years later he was hurt by the pain of learning those letters were actually written from the training room of a monastery and not the studio of a music school, but the love and pride that he had for his son and his heart for protecting the city healed all of those wounds.

"How much of a life Cole has lived since saving me from the lights after the talent show," he mused. That had been a stressful day for Lou Brookstone, but he went to bed with something he hadn't had for many years. He had his son back, and his son was happy.

The boys, now men, who had become his brothers in battle and their respective partners gave Cole back the love Lou and Lilly had first shared with him. Lou knew his son loved each member of the team dearly and would fight for them without being asked. It was the center of his character, and why Lou was now lightly pressing to see if the Shintarian Queen was a member of Cole's unspoken "loved and fought for" family.

"I don't know Pop, what kind of an answer do you want me to say? I couldn't leave Ninjago, or everyone there. Jay, Lloyd, Nya, Kai, Zane, Pix, Wu, you, for crying out loud! Is it great to be "the hero" instead of "one of the cities heroes" for a few days? Sure, anyone would like that. But I'm happy being a part of a family of heroes. I don't need to be anyone's one superman. That just sounds lonely. Anywhere with anyone that isn't, well, everyone, would never be home for me I don't think."

Somehow that was the answer was what Lou had expected, but his son had failed to completely hide the light blush that surfaced before his explanation. Cole had been gesturing with his hands as he talked, and now rested on arm on the ledge as he gazed at the sky. Lou settled deeper in his seat and closed his eyes. He might be on the road from dangerous criminals once again, but there were worse places to run to than the kingdom of a Queen who he knew believed the ninja beside Lou was "the hero"- no matter what his son might claim.

The two men turned back to the sunset and to their own thoughts. Hesitating for only a moment, Lou reached out and clapped an arm around his son's much broader and stronger frame. Cole was certainly no longer the clingy little boy that drove cars across the carpet and begged for more ice cream after dinner, but he was still Cole. He was still his son, elemental master or not. "I'm proud of you Cole."

An arm covered Lou's shoulders. "Thanks Pop."

Chapter 17

Miles away and several thousand miles lower, Zane drove the newest addition to the ninja fleet through the desert. The heavily armored camping van had been a project of Jay's, just something he tinkered on while he was bored and left the space in such a state afterwards that PIXAL had banned the vehicle and Jay's working space to one corner of her garage. It was nowhere near ready when they needed it of course, so Jay and Zane had jumped onto its completion as soon as breakfast was over. As visitors and additional hands joined the project, it came together quickly, and P.I.X.A.L's favorite socket wrench had miraculously re-appeared on her workbench! Amazing what one organized mind in a tornado of invention could do, she mused to herself as she glanced down at the map held in her lap.

The Samurai X cave was still a location the team used on occasion, mostly for the storage of weapons and additional vehicles that were out of season. The map she currently held was for the benefit of the other elemental masters so that they could somewhat track the team's progress to the cave. As soon as they reached it, the map would be destroyed. Every ninja, except for Kai and Cole, had been able to memorize the coordinates of the cave and simply found it that way in the endless desert, so there was only danger in the existence of maps that led to secret hideouts.

PIXAL glanced back at the round table and seats behind she and Zane, where Griffin, Shade, and his wife sat. Okino was across the camper on a bench seat and appeared to be meditating. Griffin was gazing out the window, slightly separated from the couple, and for once, silent. Shade's wife was asleep on his shoulder, and he had one armed protectively wrapped around her. The Master of Shadow put a hand to his lips as he and PIXAL made eye contact, and she nodded. The trip was going smoothly, and by her calculations they would reach the cave within a few hours. She and Zane had prepped essentially a whole camping kitchen along with some of the appliances that were already in the camper. It was far from the newest model but had what the group needed for a sneak across the desert. And it had air conditioning, which was always a benefit.

They planned to reach the cave shortly before midday, and drive into it as quickly as possible. They would release mini-mechs as soon as they turned off of the main road, which would follow the camper to the entrance of the cave, erasing tire tracks while blending into the sand. Zane had mentioned the tire tracks right before leaving, to which a devilish look spread across Nya's face. She had raced away to another vehicle across the room, and Jay's mouth had dropped open in disbelief.

"The SAND BUGS?!" You still have THE SAND BUGS?!" Incredibly confused, Zane had gotten as far as opening his mouth before being pounced upon by his brother in blue. "These things are from the underworld Zane, THE underworld I SAY. You must beware the SAND BUGS!" Returning to the table with a large duffel bag, Nya shook her head.

"They're a great innovation, which attacked him ONE TIME because he walked up to the cave without letting me know and I didn't shut them off. Sorry, PIX, these are another trick I forgot to tell you. They're mini-mechs that will follow a regular mech or vehicle as far as the entrance of the cave erasing tracks, and then burrow deep as protection. If anyone comes near while they are activated, they will act a bit," (she didn't even pause for the gasp and complaining tirade that Jay launched into), "A BIT, like sanding snakes."

"They attack at the ankles, Zane. The ankles. A man is defenseless around his ankles!" Finally reaching slight annoyance at his brother, Zane shook his shoulders vigorously, resulting in Jay's dismount. Kai reached out a hand to pull him back to his feet.

"Let the nindroid plan, Jay. His ankles are made of titanium. Not a big concern." PIXAL, meanwhile, had opened the duffel by now and pulled out one of the mechs. She made eye contact with Nya, and mouthed a silent thank you, which was received through the heavy planning which had once again resumed. In so many ways, it was immeasurable to have Nya guide her in some aspects of Samauri X. Something for just the girls to do. She snapped back to reality.

Turning to her partner to speak, Zane beat her to the punch. "Two hours and eighteen minutes until our expected arrival. If you have memorized the map to your liking, I am more than capable of delivering us to the cave as scheduled and planned."

She glanced down once more, then retrieved a match from her door pocket to light the parchment. As it burned away safely in her metal hands, she responded.

"It was not your capability that I doubted, Zane. Rather, my own understanding of our surroundings and the geological references that I wished to commit to my memory before being without highly updated resources within the cave."

"Is your geological mapping system malfunctioning? You had mentioned being frustrated with its capabilities recently."

"No, no, it's fully operational. I am simply musing the intelligence of splitting up in the way that we are." Zane glanced over for a moment and reached out for her arm.

"If you were concerned, why did you not voice it whilst Lloyd was coordinating? He surely would have appreciated your input." PIXAL spared a glance back to the guests behind her before responding. Seeing they were all far from focusing on the conversation, she slid Zane's right hand down from her arm where it rested and intertwined her fingers with his own.

"I am not….concerned. I am worried. I dislike missions where we all must split up for long time periods. This likely sounds contradictory as I spend my time in a metal suit working away from the rest of the team, but there are different variables in this scenario." She stretched her left fingers and traced the structure of Zane's hand with her right. "I am grateful that Lloyd placed us together."

The Master of Ice gave an uncharacteristic smirk. "He did not have a choice, PIXAL."