"Let him go!" Kai felt the prick of tears against his eyes. His brother let out a raspy cough as the King squeezed him even tighter.

"Oh? And what will you do if I don't?" The King teased, his voice low and booming. His ginger hair fell into his face like loose strands of string, dangling in front of his eyes. The King's robes were dirty, he had been fighting the Ninja for some hours now. He clenched his fist even harder, his huge hand crushing Lloyd's bones. Lloyd tried to bite back a scream, but it was no use. He coughed up a mouthful of purple blood, trying to wriggle out of the King's mighty clench. The King merely chuckled at the teen's struggle, his spinel eyes glaring.

Huge. He was massive. Bigger than Kilo, even.

"I said let him go!" Kai couldn't stop the tears now, seeing Lloyd's helpless struggle.

The King stopped for a moment, loosening his grip.

"Why of course…" He put his hand over the railing, not daring to look at Lloyd's face. His emerald-green eyes were widened in absolute fear, darting from the King to Kai and his sister. For a moment he was still, as if he had given up, but then he kicked and wriggled even more.

There was a huge drop, about the same size of Borg Tower's drop. But you wouldn't be able to see the valley below, no. It was too misty; they were almost above the clouds of course. Kai wanted to throw a blazing ball of fire at the King's head, the same size of the sun, but the vengestone chains around him were too strong and his hands were cuffed. Lloyd's attempt at escape had only led them here, in the King's grand Castle in the Endless Summit, overlooking the land and sea and sky that he ruled. Standing atop the balcony on the highest floor they sat in vengestone chains, Nya, and Kai.

Lloyd looked back to them one last time, his fearful eyes softening as if he had accepted his fate and was saying a last goodbye. Lloyd's rips were beginning to crack, his throat being set alit with dehydration and his messy blonde hair dirty from nonstop fighting. If only they had taken a break, if only they had known what was to come. Maybe Lloyd would have been able to enjoy his life without the endless suffering that came with being the Green Ninja, just for a day. Just for a day, they could go around Ninjago, read as many comics Lloyd wanted, eat as much candy as he wanted. Deep down Kai knew that it was never possible, for Lloyd to have at least one carefree day.

In the span of a few seconds, the King let go, allowing the mist to grab Lloyd and drag him down into it's depths.

5 Years later…

It was impossible to say how much Kai wished for Lloyd to of had a good childhood. Even from the barely memorable scraps that he had of his, he knew that Lloyd had missed so much. But even from the very start Lloyd was destined to have a horrible life, being forced to 'defeat darkness.' When Kai had first learned of the prophecy of the green ninja, he would have loved to be chosen. Heck, he thought with every fibre of his body that he would be the Green Ninja. Now, seeing what his little brother had been through, he couldn't help but wish that he what been chosen, to take the burden off Lloyd.

Splashing cold water on his face, Kai tried to focus on the now.

He was supposed to protect Lloyd, wasn't he? Kai had failed so very hard in that manner. Maybe it was his fault that Lloyd had fell. It was his plan after all. Sneak in, get the Travel's Tea, and get out. But it could have never of been that simple. Oh no.

After long concertation, Master Wu had chosen Kai to replace Lloyd as leader. But it hadn't really been that long, a mere week or two before he had decided. Maybe it was the fact that Master Wu was the first to truly accept Lloyd's death, or the fact that he was the quietist at his funeral, but Kai had started to have a burning feeling of hate towards his Master.

But he told himself to cut the old man some slack, he had after all, seen thousands of people die in his hundreds of years being alive.

"Kai! Can you hurry up please? The ceremony is about the begin." Nya's voice murmurs through the bathroom door.

"Coming!" Kai tries a smile in the mirror, noticing the bags under his eyes were even bigger than usual. He gives up, relishing in the memories of his lost brother.

…

"I miss him." These were the only words Zane could ever say when he had his emotions turned on. Being numb, as Nya had called it, was the only way Zane could get anything done. But even with his emotions turned off, Zane couldn't help but feel as if another half of him was in constant grief and sadness. That half of him was only fully out and walking around once a year, when they had a ceremony to mourn the loss of the Green Ninja.

The new mayor had even made it a public holiday.

Hundreds of citizens would gather at the monastery, speaking about Lloyd, telling their tales of how he had saved them and their families. Groups of people would travel from other realms and more commonly cities to share their tales. Even with all of the people that would try to brighten the day, a loss was a loss. And it impacted everyone.

"May I have your attention please!" Master Wu's voice echoed across the courtyard, gaining everyone's attention instantly. "We will be starting now. Who would like to go first?"

…

It had taken hours to get through everyone.

But after those hours the real ceremony could start.

After most of the people that had gathered left, the remaining people would have another, better ceremony. These were people that had known Lloyd personally, fought with him, became friends with him, his family. Zane looked around, noting the lack of people from the year before. But he also noticed the arrival of a new guest. He opened his mouth to make conversation but was cut off by a blaring of a microphone. He twisted his head away from Harumi and stared with lifeless eyes as Kai fumbled with the microphone.

"Sorry, new mic." Kai chuckled nervously, taking a deep breath. "I suppose we should begin.

Lloyd, I'm… I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I'm sorry I didn't make sure that you were ok. I'd like you to know that we took down that… that idiot and now no one will have to worry about him anymore… and Lloyd. Thank you for being the best little brother anyone could have asked for.

We miss you, Lloyd."

Harumi stood up and walked over to the stand, her snowflake white hair tied neatly into a bun.

"Lloyd, I'm so sorry…for everything I did to you. I'm so sorry I ever put you through that pain, through that misery. I'm so sorry. You only wanted to help. Lloyd, without you here…I feel empty. But I also feel like there's a flame inside me that will never die. I am going to make sure that no one has to go through the pain you went though. What we went through." Harumi is very nervous, but she doesn't show it.

Zane can barely remember the other speeches. It's all a big blur in his mechanical mind.

But he tells himself that that's ok. He doesn't need to remember them.

There's always next year.