Hello everyone, the last chapter is here, but before we get to it, I unfortunately have to leave a message for Catgirl Hamato, as they are commenting as a guest and therefore I cannot contact them directly.

Message: Look, I'm glad you're enjoying the fic, but bombarding me with comments asking for updates will not make me want to update any faster, in fact, it does the opposite. Everyone here works at their own pace and you need to respect that. If you want to know exact updates, create an account and PM me directly. I had my reasons to wait until today with the final chapter, and wouldn't have posted any sooner if you sent me a hundred more messages. Because of you, I had to turn on guest review moderation and am actually considering leaving this site behind for good, because the problems with it are endlessly multiplying. So yeah, thank you Hamato for commenting, but you need to think more about what you comment.

Anyways, sorry the rest of you had to read that. Hope the last chapter is good.

Enjoy


Nya gripped the railing as the New Bounty descended through the blanket of grey, silver-rimmed clouds. Once the haze passed by, she finally got the full view of the land below. It was a vast expanse of empty plains, dotted with lava lakes, and with no foliage except short, brown grass and a few small trees with twisted branches. She didn't like the place. Except the heart of a volcano, it was arguably the worst place for a water ninja to be.

But Jay was somewhere down there, in the hands of the enemy, and there was no place disadvantageous or removed enough to keep her from him.

They were still a couple minutes away from the rendezvous point, and yet Nya already couldn't help searching the ground below for anything blue in case Jay somehow managed to escape. Despite what the soldier said, she didn't believe Beatrix didn't hurt her Yin. And she was ready to return even the smallest scratch tenfold.

Footsteps sounded behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Hey," Kai greeted as he leaned on the railing next to her, "how are you holding up?"

"I'll be fine once we get Jay back," she growled. She didn't want to be mean to her brother - any of her brothers - but it was hard to stay calm when she felt like she was about to explode with every second they were traveling.

Kai luckily understood what she was going through all too well.

"We will," he assured her. It was short, devoid of any encouragements, and exactly what Nya needed to hear at the moment.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, just watching the ground fly by below them, until the other ninja joined them. They were all wearing the same expressions of determination.

"Over there is the rendezvous point," Lloyd said, pointing to a hill on the horizon that was rising slightly above the rest. When they strained their eyes, they could just barely make out the entrance to a cave close to the base of it, and small specks resembling ants moving around it.

"There is a group of at least twenty people down there," Zane announced, his eyes flashing blue, "I can't see Jay among them, but he could be deeper in the caves where my scanners can't reach."

Nya's grip on the railing tightened and the wood creaked dangerously.

"Well then, let's go get our brother back," Lloyd declared, green energy crackling ominously in his hands.

...

As soon as the ship touched down, the six ninja jumped off, staying close together as they approached the waiting Claws of Imperium. Arin, Sora, and Wyldfyre stayed with the ship (although they weren't too thrilled about it), and were very nearly falling over the railing as they tried to hear everything that went on below.

They hadn't tried to hide their approach at all, so it wasn't a surprise to see Beatrix already waiting for them outside the cave.

Everyone's mood visibly shifted at the sight of the former Empress. Until that moment, none of them entirely believed she was truly alive. Cole, who was the only one of them who hadn't seen Beatrix before, assessed her with immediate distrust.

"Ah, ninja. So glad you could join us," Beatrix greeted them with the practiced smile of a gracious ruler, "I trust you've taken good care of my kingdom in my absence?"

"Where is Jay?" Lloyd cut her off, very much not in the mood for her games. He glanced at Zane as he said it, meaning it as a question for his as well. The nindroid didn't react, his eyes glued to the entrance of the cave. That was either very good or very bad.

If it was possible, Beatrix's smile grew even wider.

"Getting straight to business, are we? But where's the fun in that?"

"There's not supposed to be anything 'fun' about this," Kai growled, gripping his katana. The lava pool closest to them glowed brighter.

"We won't talk with you about anything until you show us Jay," Cole added, brandishing his hammer threateningly.

Beatrix's calm mask cracked slightly, letting a sign of annoyance slip through. If there was anything the queen hated, it was not being in complete control.

"Well, if that's what it takes to force you ninja into a civilized conversation," she spat, motioning one of the soldiers standing behind her towards the cave. Lloyd recognised him; He was one of Beatrix's generals that often led the dragon hunting squads they fought against.

When the general left, an awkward silence stretched between the two groups. Lloyd could see Beatrix wanted to prod at them more, but was struggling to find the words. Meanwhile, most of his friends would like nothing more than to lob insults her way, but were afraid of what she could do if she actually had Jay.

"Lloyd?"

Without looking away from Beatrix, Lloyd leaned closer to Zane.

"Imperium still hasn't located Lord Ras, correct?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Well if he's not with Beatrix, where is he?"

Lloyd slowly surveilled the gathered group of soldiers, and noticed that Zane was right. There was no sign of the former leader of the Claws.

"Well, are you really that surprised Beatrix managed to chase even him away?" he joked to try and cover the worry that caused him, but it fell flat because at that moment, the general exited the cave again.

And with him, blindfolded, tied up, and guarded by two more former Claws, was Jay.

Lloyd almost didn't recognise him at first; He was even thinner than he remembered, his hair was longer, and he was so pale. And he was wearing a suit of all things! It was such a stark contrast to his lively persona and usual blue gi that Lloyd for whatever reason suddenly felt guilty that they didn't bring him a change of clothes. As if that was important at the moment. The only truly important thing was that Jay was actually here! Their brother, last remaining teammate, last missing piece, was here!

Lloyd almost ran to him, as did the rest of his friends, but Beatrix chose that moment to remind them she was still there by approaching the lightning ninja and pulling out a dagger with a jewel-crusted handle. The other ninja immediately froze.

"As you can see, we've been taking very good care of our guest, isn't that right, little ninja?" Beatrix sing-songed while circling Jay like a cat that was thinking about which direction to attack a mouse from.

"Oh, I've been doing fine. You could learn to be a better host though. Making your people do everything is just bad manners," Jay quipped, and Lloyd nearly choked when hearing his voice. Unlike the lightning ninja's appearance, that hadn't changed at all.

Beatrix's expression momentarily changed into one of pure irritation, which made the others wonder just how much Jay had been annoying her in the time he'd been captured, but she quickly schooled it back into a smile.

"Now, now, don't be snippy," she tutted while pressing the dagger to Jay's throat, "I'm sure your friends are eager to get you back, and I wouldn't want to return goods that are too damaged."

To an untrained eye, it would seem like the dagger's presence didn't faze Jay in the slightest, but Lloyd could see the minuscule tensing of his brother's muscles.

Nya next to him went completely still, her breathing turning quick and shallow. She took a step forward, and Lloyd quickly put a hand out to stop her. Like her, he wanted nothing more than to tear the queen to pieces, wrap Jay in a hug, and bring him back to the monastery where he'd be safe. But they couldn't risk it, not when they knew Beatrix was capable of anything to get her way. If they were just a second too slow, she would-

Lloyd squeezed his eyes shut and forced the image out of his mind. He needed to stay calm. Jay was counting on him.

"What's the matter? You were so eager to get to business before," Beatrix purred, running her hand provocatively across Jay's cheek. Jay leaned away from her touch while Nya growled.

"Easy, little sister. We can tear her apart once we have Jay with us," Kai whispered to her. There was bloodlust in his voice.

Lloyd took a deep breath and looked at Beatrix again, trying to ignore her victorious smirk. Kai was right, first things first, they had to get Jay. Revenge could come after.

"What are your terms?" he asked coolly.


Jay tried to hold back his frustration and not make it too hard on the two that were supposed to be guarding him. They were the ones who helped him cheat strategise during their latest games after all.

A few minutes before, Beatrix rushed outside the cave with a victorious smile, interrupting their game for a few seconds. Luckily, she seemed so focused on her task that she didn't even notice Jay wasn't tied up as he was supposed to be. That made them all uneasy for a while, but when she didn't come back, they resumed the game.

Soon after that however, Nox came in and ordered Jay to be tied up and brought outside. And he was just about to finally win!

So now he was here, standing outside the cave, hands tied so loosely that he almost had to hold the rope up himself, with a blindfold over his eyes that only let in the barest minimum of light and left him clueless as to what in Ninjago was going on. As far as he could tell, he was just here to listen to another one of Beatrix's speeches, which he could have easily done from inside the cave while finishing his game. The Empress sounded more serious than usual, going as far as putting a dagger against his throat. He heard Hanna next to him gasp slightly when she did so and he almost did the same.

What could have riled Beatrix up so much?

His answer was a voice that cut through the air, a voice that Jay knew, one of the voices he'd been desperate to hear for months.

"What are your terms?" it asked

He suddenly couldn't stand still. His muscles were thrumming with energy, the unrest transferring to his element, which caused small sparks to dance along his skin.

Beatrix was saying something, no doubt making some outrageous demands for his release, but the words were lost to Jay as he strained his ears to hear more of the first voice.

"Hanna," he peeped, his voice shaking with excitement, "Hanna, are they... are the ninja here? Is my family actually here?"

"I... I think so," Hanna whispered hesitantly next to him, "I've never actually seen them before, but I think that's them. They... they don't look at all like the monsters we-"

But Jay couldn't hear her anymore. He wanted nothing more than to run to his family, to tear his blindfold off so he could see their faces when he squeezed them all in one giant hug.

And so he did.

He tore free of his guards' already lax holds, shook off the loose ropes, and while already running tugged at his blindfold to get it off. He succeeded just as he was rushing past Beatrix. Her face must have looked hilarious, seeing the bargaining chip she was so proud of run past her just as she was making her demands, but at that moment, all Jay could see were his friends, his family, right there in front of him.

"Nya!" he yelled as he sprinted towards them, "Lloyd! Kai! Cole! Zane!"

"Jay!" they answered, and in the next moment, he was in their embrace. They surrounded him like a giant blanket, each trying to get as close to him in the hug as they could, while he did his best to hug all of them with hands that suddenly seemed way too short.

Maybe Garmadon had the right idea with the four arms, the thought flashed through his mind just as his eyes started filling up with tears.

They hugged for a long time, but it still felt too short to make up for all those long month they'd been apart. His siblings asked countless questions; "Are you ok?" "Where have you been?" "Did she hurt you?" "Are you hungry?" and so many more. The onslaught was so fast that the words mixed together, but Jay wouldn't have been able to answer them anyways, he just poured his entire being into enjoying the regained closeness to his family.

"Hey!"

The angry shout made them finally look up again and towards Beatrix, whose face was burning with anger. She was standing in the exact spot as before, holding the rope that Jay had been tied within clenched hands.

"Ah right, forgot about her," Lloyd mumbled as he reluctantly let o of Jay and placed himself between him and Beatrix. Kai and Cole moved to join him, while Nya and Zane remained at Jay's side, their hold on him tightening. Now that they finally got him back, no force in the whole sixteen realms - merged or not - was going to take him again.

"So, I recon this means our deal is off?" Lloyd asked mockingly, brandishing his dao to warn Beatrix of coming any closer.

The queen let out a nearly animalistic howl, threw the ropes on the ground and whirled at her soldiers, who were still reeling from Jay's unexpected escape.

"What are you waiting for you imbeciles?! Do something right for once in your miserable lives and attack! Bring me their heads!"

A couple soldiers stepped forward, although slightly hesitant to face all six of the ninja, but a surprising amount stayed where they were.

"G-good Empress?" someone spoke up in a small voice, and when Jay peeked over Kai's shoulder, he saw it was Hanna.

The girl flinched when the queen's hateful glare turned to her, but continued speaking. "Well, don't you think that, um, maybe we should try working with the ninja?"

Beatrix's jaw dropped.

"I-it's just that, well, we've been told that the ninja are monsters with d-deformed faces and evil eyes that they hide behind masks. You told us that they, um, want to destroy us, but... they don't really look like they do. Maybe this is all just... a misunderstanding? If we-"

Hanna was cut off when Beatrix pounced at her with a scream, dagger held high. The ninja were all too far to interfere, not to mention they weren't even sure what was going on, so the girl would have surely been struck, had Nox not stepped in front of her. The general skillfully deflected the Empress' blow and pushed her back, all the while using his own body to shield the girl.

"Good Empress, perhaps my sister is right," he said calmly, and Jay gasped in surprise, earning himself the confused and concerned looks of his friends, "The ninja was cooperative while he was in our custody. He didn't try to escape or harm any of us, and even now, after he is safe, his friends aren't trying to attack us to take revenge. For the good of the people of Imperium, maybe we should consider these ninja as potential allies."

There was a momentary silence as everyone mulled over the general's words. Many of those Jay had befriended during his capture were nodding or quietly murmuring in agreement, while those that stuck closer to the Empress glared or brandished their weapons.

When Beatrix finally spoke, her voice shook.

"For the good of the people of Imperium? Their good means nothing! They are nothing more than traitors, just like all of you!"

She raised her chin and turned away from the general, like he was no longer worth talking to.

"I'll deal with your punishment later! For now, everyone who is still loyal to their rightful Empress, attack!"

With that, the group of soldiers around Beatrix moved towards the ninja, but the rest didn't stay still either. With the general leading them, the defectors attacked the Empress' group from the back, sowing chaos and confusion into their ranks. Without a leader of their own besides the Empress herself, who was for the most part just screaming incoherently, the still loyal soldiers quickly broke formation and the battle devolved into a mass of small groups fighting each other.

The ninja, who were completely forgotten in the chaos, stood utterly confused to the side.

"I... have no idea what is happening," Cole concluded.

"Long story. Just punch anyone that's not on our side," Jay shrugged, already pulling out his weapon.

His friends obviously had a lot of questions still, but decided those could wait for later.

"Are you sure you're up for it, Zaptrap?" Kai asked with a smirk, "After all, you must be terribly out of shape."

Jay returned the smirk, and lightning crackled at his fingertips.

"Out of shape or not, I can beat you any time, Firecracker."

His friends all chuckled and fell into position around him. Jay didn't even notice when he did the same.

"It's good to have you back," Lloyd smiled just before they charged.

It was amazing just how easily they fell back into their familiar rhythm. Like the years they'd spent apart were nothing more than a layer of dust that was easily blown away. Of course Jay stumbled or made the wrong move a couple times, but one of his friends was always there to make up for it.

It was a bit hard to tell the defectors from the soldiers still loyal to the Empress, but largely due to luck there were only a couple mix-ups and none went beyond a slight concussion to the wrong head.

Less than three minutes after charging into the fray, the ninja converged around Beatrix, who had been backed up against the side of the hill. She was staring them down with pure hatred in her eyes, holding an electrostaff in front of herself like it could possibly protect her from all six of them.

"You... You think you've won?" she breathed heavily as her eyes jumped from one ninja to another, "You've... won... Nothing! You are only delaying the inevitable! You've taken everything from me, and I will never forget that! I don't care how long it will take, I'll-"

"Oh shut up."

Beatrix reeled back from being told what to do, but before she could snap back, Nya lunged forward, and with a sharp crack, the Empress crumbled to the ground.

"That's for taking my Yin," Nya snarled down at her, a feral glint in her eyes.

The other ninja flinched when that look shifted to them, and none of them could relax until it softened again.

"You know, I wanted to do that," Lloyd mumbled, far too quietly for Nya to hear, just in case she still hadn't had enough revenge.

"Well now that that's finally done, I think it's time we introduce her queenliness and her friend to a lovely new cell in Kryptarium," Cole smirked as he looked over the battlefield and the defeated enemies scattered across it.

"If Kryptarium is still standing and within our reach," Zane remarked, but couldn't keep the smile of his face when he pulled Jay into another hug. The other ninja similarly gathered around for another round of hugs and to bombard their rescued friend with more question. Jay did his best to answer all of them, until a small "Um, excuse me?" interrupted Zane's twenty-fourth time asking if he could do just one more medical scan to make sure he was uninjured.

The ninja loosened their huddle, but Jay was still kept securely in the middle as they turned to face the young girl in Imperian armor that approached them.

"We were, um, wondering is you could take us back to Imperium?" Hanna asked timidly, "Nox- I-I mean the general said we shouldn't trouble you after everything we've done, but we don't really know how to return, and-"

"Of course we'll take you!" Jay called with a giant smile to the surprise of his friends, "I couldn't just leave you here after everything you've done for me!"

Hanna smiled slightly but then shrunk back when Nya measured her with narrowed eyes.

"I see you've been having fun in captivity. Maybe we should have left you here," she said in an eerily calm tone, interrupting Jay's retelling of how Hanna treated his wound and told him of Imperium's downfall.

For the first time since his rescue, the other ninja stepped away from him, but Jay, still drunk on euphoria from their reunion, decided to take his chances.

"Don't tell me you're jealous now?" he laughed as he stepped up to Nya, pinching her side.

Nya pursed her lips, but it was obvious the familiar gesture averted disaster.

"I was without my Yin for three years, I'm allowed to be jealous," she concluded before taking hold of his arm and pulling him away from Hanna. What Jay didn't see was the water ninja mouthing a quick "Thank you." towards Hanna.

As they all headed for the New Bounty, they found three teens waiting for them by the anchor. It didn't take Jay long to realise who they were, even though he only saw one of them before. It was more than obvious from the way the green ninja's eyes lit up when he saw them.

"These must be the students you took on, huh greenie?" he asked towards Lloyd, who blushed and mumbled something incoherent.

"They grow up so fast, don't they? One day they're struggling to light up a single light bulb, the next they've already got kids on their own," Jay continued, swiping a fake tear from his eye. The other ninja exploded in laughter, while Lloyd's face turned an even brighter red.

Jay looked over the three students and stopped at the only boy, who was watching him with sparkling eyes. He was the one who was with Lloyd and Zane in the Administration, but Jay also recognised him from somewhere else.

"You must be Arin. I remember you from the Merge. Good to see you made it out ok."

"Y-yeah, you too," the boy stuttered, practically jumping up and down now, "I don't mean to be rude, but... Oh my First Master, I am such a huge fan! I was there you know, when you fought Unagami on Borg's tower? It's like my second favorite battle of them all, right after that time you beat the Overlord and the Crystal army."

Jay blinked at the influx of information, quickly realising the admiration he saw in the boy's eyes hadn't been affected by their long absence from Ninjago.

"Huh, well, it feels good to be finally acknowledged like I deser- Uh, excuse me, what are you doing?"

He turned in a circle to try and follow another of Lloyd's students, the girl with bright red hair and the only one lacking a gi, who was circling him like a dog examining a stranger.

"You smell like paper and work," the girl concluded her investigation and looked up to stare at him, "I don't like work, but paper is fun because it burns well. Do you burn well too?"

Jay took an unconscious step back while the other ninja snickered. This must have been Wyldfyre.

"That's a, uh, complicated question, but if training with Kai taught me anything it's that all things burn well when you try hard enough. But!" he quickly continued when the girl's eyes lit up with excitement, "If you set me on fire, we wouldn't be able to prank Kai together. There's no one more proficient in that than me, trust me. I heard you have the same power as him, can you imagine how many things we could blame on him?"

Wyldfyre glanced at Kai, whose expression was now the definition of betrayal. She seemed to mull his suggestion over for a bit and then nodded with a grin.

"Good idea. I will need you not burned then... for now."

Jay laughed nervously, but in is head he was already making plans for how to best make up for his absence in pranking with her help. The possibilities were endless!

Then his eyes fell on the last remaining student, who had until then been standing to the back, looking unsure whether she should approach. Was she afraid that he wouldn't like her because she was clearly Imperian?

"You're Sora, right?" he turned to her, trying to placate her with a smile when she flinched, "The new elemental master of... Technology I think it was? Beatrix cursed you out the most. Kept saying you dismantling her weapon ruined everything," he explained at her confused expression, "Hanna said you were the greatest protege of your generation. Do you build a lot of things?"

"Oh, you know, right now I'm mostly just trying to get familiar with an elemental power I can barely control when no one is about to die," Sora laughed nervously, flexing her hands that glowed a faint purplish pink, "But when I'm not currently blowing things up, I do like to build stuff. You know, small home improvements, racing engines, the odd battle mech or two."

"She even helped fix that power rebound issue on the New Bounty," Nya supplied with a proud smile.

"Really?" Jay marveled, "How? We were trying to figure that out for months! The only thing that was sort of wonky was the core isolation unit, and to tighten that we would have had to-"

"Introduce a whole new layer to isolate the rogue energy currents without isolating the core itself. Yep, I, uh, managed to do that," Sora rubbed her neck sheepishly.

"Ok, I like this one," Jay grinned, throwing an arm around the girl's shoulders. And, excuse him, but how was she taller than him?!

"Hey, why is Sora everyone's favourite?" Arin complained, pouting slightly when everyone laughed.

Jay couldn't stop grinning. These three would fit in their bizarre family well.

Nya came up next to him and hooked her arm through his. He leaned into her, relishing in the familiar scent of saltwater and ocean breeze that followed her. Still holding her hand, and surrounded by the other ninja, he walked to the Bounty that was waiting to take them back to the Monastery.

Finally.

He was going home.


So, I may have projected slightly onto Jay in this fic. I was really worried when Dragons Rising first came out that my favourite ninjas would be sidelined, with new characters taking all the screen time, and I was pleasantly surprised that that wasn't the case. So far, the writers are doing an amazing job keeping Ninjago's legacy alive and thriving while introducing new characters that are, for the most part, quite likeable. I really hope that will hold up into season 2 and beyond.

Anyways, that's that for this fic, hope you guys liked it, even if it was a bit short. Enjoy the new DR season when it comes out (Villain Jay is gonna be awesome if it happens!), and stay safe out there.

I'll see ya in the next one