Lloyd was sitting by himself when Hikari came up to him. "Hey Lloyd," she said. She was wearing casual clothing, and Lloyd raised his eyebrow. "Are you headed somewhere?"

"Yeah. Everyone I want to say goodbye to that is still living is coming with me, and Sensei told me we have an hour to go do whatever we want before we have to leave," Hikari stated simply. Lloyd got to his feet. "Well, that's the case with me, too, so I'll come with you!"

Hikari blinked. "Oh...! You really don't need to, Lloyd, if you don't want-"

"No, I'll come!" Lloyd said enthusiastically. Hikari blinked as his green eyes met hers. Even though she was much taller than she'd been back then, she was still a little shorter than him. "Oh.. okay," she said finally, with the slightest smile, and the two of them started walking.

About twenty minutes later, Hikari turned right abruptly, cutting off the conversation (they'd started discussing their favorite food places in Ninjago and were both arguing about the BEST) as she continued. Lloyd looked up. The sign was weathered and old, but he could faintly make out the words:

Silver Valley Cemetery.

With a slight feeling of foreboding in his stomach, he followed her in. Hikari had stopped talking altogether and kept walking, her head bobbing from side to side as she did. And then she stopped walking, and Lloyd ran straight into her, almost knocking her over. His hand automatically grabbed her lower arm, and his other hand reached out to her waist and kept her steady. "Whoa, sorry," he apologized, feeling sheepish.

"No, no, it's not a problem," Hikari said, her pretty gray eyes focused elsewhere and her voice sounding very unfocused.

Lloyd followed her gaze, and his eyes widened, and his mouth opened into an inaudible 'oh'.

Mizuiki Tsukino
1987-2009 (A/N: This is based off of when the seasons actually came out. This episode was in 2012, so... yeah.)

Kazuto Tsukino
1983-2009

Hikari stared at the graves before placing her hand on one of the headstones, the one with Mizuiki's name on it. "... m-mum?" she asked. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

The headstone started glowing, and Lloyd felt his stomach clench nervously as a slightly purple aura rose from the ground. A woman with what appeared to be long, brown, graying hair rose from the ground, a slightly annoyed look on her face. In fact, if not for the purple aura around her and the wounds on her body, Lloyd would've said she was alive. "Who's waking me up now..." She opened her eyes, which, as far as Lloyd could tell, were brown. She met Hikari's eyes, and then went still.

"... Hikari?"

Hikari reached out with one hand, shakily. Her hands were trembling nervously, and she stopped part of the way through, as if afraid she wasn't really there. "Mum?" she repeated, softly.

The woman stepped forward. "Hikari," she repeated, and then she was hugging Hikari. It looked a bit odd, a purple-ish aura glomping Hikari, but Hikari wrapped her arms around her as well. "Mum," she repeated again, and her voice broke this time.

The woman, Hikari's mom, released her. "My little Hikari... you've grown so much," she said, and her voice was a mix of ruefulness and warmth. "And you're looking quite like your father!"

Hikari perked up. "I do?" she asked, her voice whispery. Lloyd felt as though he were intruding, so he stepped away a few times.

"Yes, you do. Almost like a picture of him," Hikari's mom confirmed, before glancing up and noticing Lloyd. "Hm? Who's that?"

"Oh! Mum, this is my friend, Lloyd Garmadon," Hikari said, dragging him back over. Mizuiki smiled warmly at him, making him smile back a little. And even though Hikari's eyes were sparkling with tears, he could tell this was one of the happiest moments of her life. "It's lovely to meet you Lloyd..."

Hikari was touching her father's headstone, and a man who did look remarkably like her rose from the ground, rubbing his nose. "Goodness... I've been sleeping for quite a while..." And then his eyes lit up when he saw Hikari. "Hikari!" And he hugged her as well, the wrinkles around his eyes softening. "It's wonderful to see you... and you're perfectly okay. Takes after me," he joked slightly, and the woman hit him gently on the shoulder. "Kazu..." she said, in a stern tone.

"Mizu..." he responded, in the same tone, and he ducked away the next minute with a laugh as she swung at him, eyes flashing. "DON'T CALL ME MIZU!"

Lloyd and Hikari laughed, and Hikari's father noticed Lloyd. "Oh? Who's this? Your boyfriend?" He leaned in so that his face was practically right up next to Lloyd's. "Hm, he looks decent enough, from what I can tell. I hope he treats you well."

Hikari's face was a pomegranate. "D-dad, he-he's just my friend... we're not dating..." she mumbled, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. Lloyd felt a rush of disappointment, and he cleared his throat and looked away. "Yeah, we're just... friends."

"Best friends."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"We're not dating, no."

"He's just my best friend."

"Who's a boy."

"He can't help being a boy."

The two of them sputtered, and Mizuiki laughed warmly before punching her husband gently on the shoulder. "Darling, don't tease them, you'll make poor Hikari turn into the inside of a watermelon."

"But I like watermelon," was Kazuto's response, and he ducked another swing from Mizu as Hikari blushed. "I forgot how much you like teasing people," she responded, still blushing.

"Well, I am- or, was, I guess- only 26," Kazuto pointed out. Mizuiki rolled her eyes. "You sure? I swear you act like you're ten years old sometimes."

"As much as I would like to reminisce with you," Hikari said simply, making both of them look at her, "Lloyd and I have to get going in about ten minutes if we're going to make it back on time... so I'd better hurry and tell you, Mum, Dad, I'm a ninja..."

She explained the whole thing, much more concisely and quickly than Lloyd ever could have, and the two of them were silent. Mizuiki finally embraced her daughter. "Oh, darling, that's wonderful... you'll be able to protect everyone!"

"You're not angry?" Hikari asked, perking up.

"How could we? My daughter, being a hero. That's better than any other job description I've heard of, except your mother being a chef," Kazuto joked, and ducked another punch from his wife. "Okay, you go on your trip and defeat evil. I'm not sure I understand all of it, but... We'll be waiting right here."

"Oh, and darling, if you meet the man who killed us..."

Hikari's eyes widened. "Oh! Do you know what he looks like?"

Mizuiki grimaced, making Hikari's hopeful look fade. "Unfortunately no, we only saw his eyes. It was far too dark, and besides he caught your father by surprise and then got me, so..."

"But if you meet him," Kazuto picked up, "punch him in the nose for me, I can't punch anything worth beans here..."

The other three laughed, making him look pleased.

Hikari hugged them again. "Don't worry, I'll be back. See you soon," she said, and finally she let go and took Lloyd's hand. "Let's go," she said quietly.

The two of them left, and when Lloyd chanced a glance again Mizuiki and Kazuto were gone, with nothing but heavy mist behind them.

Hikari sniffled, drawing his attention back to her. Tears were dropping down her face, fast and heavy, and Lloyd stopped and drew her into a tight hug right there, spontaneously, on the sidewalk. "Hey, it's okay... I'll keep visiting with you, if you want, your parents are really nice."

Hikari sniffled again, teary-eyed through her wavery smile. "R-really?"

"Yeah, and you can bring the others, I'm sure they'd love to meet your parents," Lloyd said enthusiastically. Hikari looked up and Lloyd, and then buried her face in his chest. "I think I'll stay here for a bit..." she said, voice muffled.

And, true to her word, they stood there for another five minutes, Lloyd slightly guiltily taking in the fact that she smelled like violets, and Swedish Fish, which doesn't seem like it'd make a nice smell but actually did smell very nice, somewhat intoxicating, and that her hair was long and shiny and smooth and he had to resist running a hand over it, before she had to break away and the two of them had to rush back to the Bounty so they wouldn't be late.

x

"You two are late, I've sent my falcon," Zane commented, "we've been trying to fix the ro-" He paused and squinted at Hikari. "Hikari, have you been crying?"

"Yeah, but it's not Lloyd's fault, we went to visit my parents while we still had time," Hikari said shakily, wiping her face a little bit. A slightly awkward silence fell over the group as Lloyd gave Hikari's hand an encouraging squeeze.

"As I was saying," Nya said, "the starboard thrusters are completely destroyed, and the port thrusters are shot from the strain. So she's not getting airborne anytime soon."

Cole groaned, "So if the Stone Army attacks again, we're sitting ducks!"

"Ducks can fly, Cole. Weren't you listening?" Jay asked sardonically.

Kai crossed his arms. "We basically just got our tails handed to us. We couldn't even stop one of them!" He let out an annoyed groan. "I hate feeling helpless."

"We mustn't give up hope, Kai," Sensei Wu said quietly, and Lloyd arched his eyebrow at his uncle. "But the Stone Army is indestructible," he complained, "you saw it! At best, the most Hikari and my power could do was slow them down!"

"That's not entirely true," Misako commented, making everyone look at her, "There IS a way to defeat them- and it is told within the scrolls."

Everyone looked at each other, and then went down to where she was, entering the Bounty so the scroll wouldn't get blown away randomly. "The prophecy reveals that the power to defeat the Stone Army resides within the Green and Purple Ninja-"

"I told you," Lloyd interrupted, "I tried- I-I gave them everything I had!"

"Yes, but you two are stronger than you think," Misako spoke, encouragingly, "look, 'The true power of the Green and Purple Ninja'-"

Hikari looked down at the scroll. There was a Yin-Yang symbol on the paper, with two dragons being formed within each side, except Lloyd's side was gold rather than white with a silver eye, and Hikari's was silver with a gold eye. The four ninja were below them, sending beams of power at them.

"'The true power of the Green and Purple Ninja can only be unlocked when their elemental protectors found their own, pure, elemental powers'," Misako quoted, and Hikari snapped her fingers. "That's right, when they found their true potential I was able to use my power and the elements. Actually," and a slightly sheepish look crossed her face, "the first time I really was able to control my power on 'death' was when I found out about Zane's dad. I was able to see how he... well..." she made a slightly vague motion, looking even more awkward than before.

"Are we the protectors, then?" Cole asked, with a smile. Jay snorted. "Silly question, of course we are!" he cackled for a moment before looking at Misako for confirmation, "right?"

"If we ARE the protectors, then we're doomed," Zane said, as if stating a matter of fact, "Our elemental Golden Weapons no longer exist. We cannot tap into our elemental powers without them."

Misako chuckled a bit and said, encouragingly, "The powers DO exist, within each of you. And there IS a way to unlock the powers on your own. We must go to the Temple of Light."

"Temple of Light?" Nya spoke, before shrugging. "What's that?"

"The Gold from the Golden Weapons was from the Golden Peaks," Misako said, pulling out another scroll, "but they were forged in the Temple of Light. A powerful place I thought existed only in legend.."

Hikari's bright expression turned cloudy. "Bet you guys a million bucks that that Temple is on the Dark Island," she said with a sigh.

"I think our only choice," Misako said, calmly, "is to find out."

Cole grinned, his incredibly dark brown eyes glimmering with excitement, "So we get our powers back? All right!"

"But there's still one big problem," Nya commented, "the Bounty can't fly!"

"Nya, the Dark Island is on the other side of the ocean," Hikari commented innocently, examining the scrolls carefully, "can't we just sail it?"

A silence. Hikari looked up to see the majority of the room staring at her. "... we've said this too many times... but we really don't give you enough credit sometimes," Nya said finally, grinning at the teenage girl.

x

There were cheers as many of Ninjago City's civilians came to see them off. Or... well... all of the ones who'd made it out of the City.

"Now promise me you'll eat your vegetables," Edna was saying to her incredibly embarrassed son, who hissed, his face the shade of a basket of apples, "Mom...!"

"Oh, I mean it! You get sluggish if you don't get enough vitamins!" Edna said enthusiastically, before turning to her husband, "Ed, tell if he's gonna save the world, he has to eat his vegetables!"

Ed looked vaguely uncomfortable at his wife's demand. "Err... Do what your mother says," he said to his son, nodding to him with an awkward smile on his face.

Nearby, Lou, Cole's dad, was hugging his son tightly. "I... don't know what to say," he said softly, and Cole said, quickly, "You don't have to say anything!"

"You're right," Lou said warmly, before grinning. "I don't have to say anything. But I do have to sing!"

Hikari blinked as the whole group started singing. They really were quite good, actually, especially since this was acapella...

When they finished, everyone clapped, and Cole hugged his dad again. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard, pop!" Hikari grinned before scanning the crowd some more.

Kai turned to Dareth nearby, smirking slightly. "Dareth, as the honorary Brown Ninja, we're trusting you in protecting Ninjago, and tending to the Ultra-Dragon," he told him, seriously, "are you up to the tasks?"

Nya was giving her brother a smirk as Dareth said, proudly, "I won't let you guys down!" He then turned to the crowd and yelled, proudly, "Did you guys hear that? I'm officially the Brown Ninja!"

He then turned back and whispered to Kai, but Hikari was staring at Lloyd now, who was talking to his mother happily, any previous grudge he might've held against her thrown to the winds.

Her best friend, teammate, confidante... crush...

What! Her face turned red the moment she realized the thought had crossed her mind. No way! She didn't have a crush on Lloyd. No, she couldn't have a crush on her best friend... so what if he was cute... and kind... and smart... and clever... and funny... and-

Hikari pulled herself up short.

No, she didn't have...

... yeah who was she kidding, she'd fallen head over heels for him.

She glanced away as he glanced at her, though, trying desperately to focus elsewhere, although she did have to smile a little at the fact that there was a crowd of fangirls cheering for Zane at one end of the dock, and she definitely had to giggle when Mother Doomsday burst through the crowd of them and said, "I love ya, ya stupid Nindroid!" She was pretty sure Zane was pretty happy about that, too.

"Pupils," Sensei Wu announced, making everyone's gaze snap to him automatically, "it's time we set sail!"

"Goodbye!" Hikari said to the crowd, smiling, before getting on the ship. She didn't notice Brad Tudabone's (yes, he was there too) adoring look, or the other rather appreciative looks most of the other guys were giving her. She might not realize it, but after drinking the Tomorrow's Tea she was quite pretty. And it didn't hurt that she was very kind and patient as well.

The reason she didn't notice, was partially since she was so innocent, and partially because, really, if she was being honest with herself, she really only had eyes for Lloyd.

Lloyd most certainly did, though, and he shot them all this incredibly disgruntled look that could've melted obsidian. All of the boys found somewhere else to look, and several of them developed this intense interest in the clouds.

As the Bounty started to sail away, the sails up, everyone waved goodbye, and Edna shouted suddenly to her son, "JAY! DID YOU MAKE SURE TO PACK CLEAN UNDERWEAR?"

"Yes! MOM!" Jay groaned.

Hikari excused herself to leave the deck so she could laugh.

x

Zane came up the stairs, a dejected air about him. Hikari turned to him, concerned. "Still no word from your falcon?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. Her hair fluttered a little in the sea breeze, as Zane sighed. "Not yet," he said quietly.

Hikari stared at him for a moment before sighing and giving him a brief hug. "I'm sorry," she said simply, before releasing him. She didn't notice that behind her, Lloyd was almost literally turning green with envy, and he turned to stare out at the water.

Kai glanced away from Zane, and, in a rather desperate attempt to distract Zane, said, "I wonder what's on the island."

Zane perked up slightly, smiling slightly. "An entirely new ecosystem?" he suggested.

"Never before seen creatures?" Cole wondered, and Jay jumped with excitement. "Ooh! With vegetables that taste like dessert?" Hikari giggled again.

"I hope the Stone Army's there," Kai said, seriously, "they may've gotten the best of us once, but never again."

Cole grinned, pumping his fist. "You said it!"

"Hear hear!" Jay cheered loudly.

Lloyd said, a bit more gloomily, "I wonder if this is the end of our destiny."

There was a short silence, before Hikari said, "Well, if it is, I really can't think of anyone else I'd want to be with."

"Hear hear," Jay and Kai chorused, and Cole nodded. "You said it."

Zane stared off into the distance, and suddenly his eyes flashed blue with a sound. "My falcon has arrived at the Dark Island!" he exclaimed.

They ran to the bridge, where he plugged his head into the machine. It was actually a bit creepy how he did that, and Hikari often had to suppress a shudder whenever she saw him doing that. "There," he said, "now we can all see."

Hikari looked up at the screen to see what looked a bit like a jungle. A whirling sound sounded, and Zane tilted his head down, to see a small red figure in the purplish view, and something white spinning at them-

Hikari's eyes widened. "Zane, tell the falcon to move-!" she shouted, a second too late as the blade came at the falcon and static screeched over the screen.

Zane was literally sent flying backwards from the impact, the wire coming loose, and Hikari was there first, as a haunted look came into his eyes. "He's... he's gone," he said, sounding stunned.

Hikari frowned and looked at the screen. "I don't know... I don't think so. I haven't gotten that feeling. I can sense when robots die, too, Zane, and the falcon... well, it's really not giving off that feeling," she said simply, staring at the screen. She didn't have the feeling, but she also had the dread that since the falcon was less complicated than something- someone like Zane... well, she might not feel it.

"He's our friend too," Kai said, comfortingly, "so we're not going to let that go. If the Stone Army wants a fight," and his amber eyes hardened. "They got one!"

"Well, that's going to have to wait," Misako interrupted, and gestured for the dark clouds that were rolling in over the deck, "because right now we're sailing straight for a storm!"

x

Hikari blinked through the rain as she heaved on the rope, struggling to keep the sails open. "HOLD THE LINE!" Cole yelled, although she could barely hear him. Her wet hair was slapping her back as she squinted to keep her eye on it. Kai's hair was completely wet and lost the hair gel, making him look rather like Nya, to her amusement. Lloyd's hair stuck to his face, which was a really nice look on him-

She blushed at the thought. Cole's hair was plastered to his face, and Zane's... well, Zane's was a little flattened, but otherwise nothing had really happened. The only one who wasn't completely soaked was Jay, who was hanging back.

"THE WIND'S TOO STRONG!" Lloyd bellowed, and Hikari winced as they slid a little bit. "WE NEED EVERYONE'S HELP, JAY!" Zane shouted to Jay, who was hiding in the doorway.

"But I don't want to get wet!" Jay shrieked over the wind, "I only have one pair of underwear!"

Hikari snorted and almost let go of the rope at this. Kai glared over his shoulders, his amber eyes practically glowing in the dark, "JAY THIS IS NO TIME TO BE MAKING JOKES! THE BOUNTY CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH!"

"You think I'm trying to be funny?!" Jay snapped back, when a laughing sound came over it. "Okay, laugh all you want, but don't blame me when I have to go commando!"

"Uh, we're not laughing!" Hikari shouted, feeling confused now, "I thought you were the one laughing!"

Kai looked disconcerted as the high-pitched laughter seemed to surround them. "Uh, guys? Why is the sea laughing at us?"

Jay remained huddled in the doorway. "And why do I get the feeling we're not going to get the joke?" he asked, as four starfish-like creatures landed on the deck of the rocking ship.

"Hey, what's that?" Cole asked, and Hikari let go to check. All of the ninja skidded forward, and Jay ran forward. "I'm coming! I got it-" He was cut off as a huge wave enveloped the deck, soaking them all to the skin and nearly knocking Hikari over the side. Hikari picked one of the starfish up. "It looks like some kind of... fish..."

As she flipped it over, she saw it had teeth in a round mouth that was contracting and releasing in the air. Hikari let out a shriek and threw it over the side. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE FIRST SPINJITZU IS THAT?!" she shrieked.

Misako fled down a nearby staircase, "We must not let the Starteeth on board!" she ordered, "they devour ships, and they won't stop until we sink!"

Hikari grabbed a few more, which came loose with a sucking sound, and hurled them overboard. "I'll try to get on it!" she said, but one hopped onto the rope the ninja were holding, before the rope broke, and the ship rocked to one side. Hikari yelped as she grabbed the railing and more Starteeth were thrown on board.

"Get these things off the ship!" Kai yelled, and Hikari booted one overboard, only to find another one was biting her. "Ow!" she yelped, and smacked it, it came off her leg and she threw it overboard with all her strength.

"Get off of there! Jay yelled as the other ninja booted them off, and then "GAH!" Hikari looked to see four Starteeth gnawing his back, and Hikari shrieked, "Um, USE YOUR SPINJITZU!"

Jay did that, but ended throwing the Starteeth on the sail. Hikari winced. "Okay, bad idea," she mumbled, before Spinjitzuing across the deck with the others and knocking them back overboard.

"They eat through metal, too!?" Jay yelped as he picked some off of a chain and tossed them overboard.

Hikari groaned. "Guys, we have a bigger problem!"

Everyone leaned over to see what Hikari was looking at, to see Starteeth gnawing a hole in the front of the ship.

The ship suddenly rocked, and Hikari, who was a bit off guard, was nearly thrown into the water. "AHH!" she screamed, and a hand lunged and caught hers, and she quickly wrapped her hands around Lloyd's arm. "DON'T LET GO!" he yelled over the crashing waves, howling wind, and thunder.

"I'M TRYING, I'M TRYING!" Hikari screamed desperately, feeling the ocean spray sting her already-soaked skin as she held Lloyd's slippery, wet hand...

The ship rocked the other way, throwing Hikari back on deck right into Lloyd. She hugged him, the two of them holding each other as they panted, before Hikari's face turned red. "Oh, um... thanks," she breathed.

"N-no problem," Lloyd responded, moving away a bit. Hikari wiped her wet face with her wet sleeve, and succeeding in rubbing a little salt into her eyes.

The next morning rose, Hikari's hair still completely soaked- in fact, everyone was still rather damp, but had changed into drier clothing, so they felt more damp than soaking. Kai's hair was floppy and limp rather than in its usually spiky form, since he'd attempted to use gel on damp hair and succeeded in making the spikes, but they were limp. It looked a little flat, actually.

Hikari and the others were belowdeck, trying to bail water out of the lower deck, which had a good five inches of water inside. It was a miracle the ship hadn't sunk by now.

Hikari wiped her face before bailing some more water out the side, nearly splashing Lloyd in the process. He smirked at her. "Hey, be careful, you nearly drenched me."

"Not that you need it," she teased, and at that he grabbed her and gave her a noogie, before releasing her with a bemused look. "Your hair is still wet..."

Hikari wrung it out a little. "Haven't had time to dry it properly."

Lloyd took off his ninja mask, which he wasn't using, and handed it to her. "You can use it to dry your hair," he said simply.

Hikari flushed pink and tried to push it back to him. "Oh-! No, this is your mask, Lloyd, I really, really don't need-"

"I insist," he said, pressing it into her hands with a warm smile.

Hikari smiled slightly and went over to Misako, after a moment of silence. "You have a gentleman for a son!" she said, smiling as she carefully started to rub her hair dry.

"Yes... how long have you two been friends?" Misako asked, holding her scrolls.

Hikari shrugged. "About three years. He's really very nice, when you get to know him," she said, with a small smile, "big softy."

"I am NOT a softy," Lloyd said loudly as Hikari continued to pat her hair dry, making her giggle and Misako chuckle softly. "And... do you like him?" Misako added, more quietly than before.

Hikari gave her a funny look as she kept rubbing her hair dry. "Of course I like him. Why would I be friends-"

"No, no, the other... the other sort of like," Misako said, even more quietly. Hikari felt her cheeks pink, and she paused in rubbing her hair dry. "Well, ever since I got older, every time I look at Lloyd it feels like the zoo released their entire insect exhibit in my stomach," she remarked, making Misako chuckle again.

"That's natural... I think," Misako said as Hikari kept glancing at Lloyd with her pink cheeks. "So you like him?"

"Is that weird?" Hikari said with a grimace, "or do you not approve or something?"

"Quite the contrary, my son's allowed to do what he wants," Misako said warmly, "and you've been friends for a while, it's not odd at all."

"If you say so," Hikari responded, blushing again to the point where she looked like a pomegranate and giving the now rather damp mask over to Lloyd. "Here you go, Lloyd, my hair's more dry now..."

Misako just smiled mysteriously.

"Oh, this is hopeless!" Kai groaned loudly, "with no rudder, we've been drifting aimlessly, we'll never get to the Dark Island!" he picked up another bucket of water and bailed it out the side.

"We only know what is foretold will happen, not WHEN it will happen," Misako said simply, when suddenly Zane's bucket clanked to the floor. "What is it, Zane?" Sensei Wu asked as Zane turned and headed for the opening in the side.

"I sense something," Zane said, almost matter of factly, before checking outside. Hikari went over to Lloyd as he looked, and Cole asked, sounding hopeful, "Is it the falcon?"

Jay stepped forward, eyes wide, "Is he alright?"

"No, it's..." Zane looked outside, and then stiffened. "Something else, BRACE YOURSELVES!"

As he shouted this, the Bounty let out a groan as it crashed into some rocks and sand, making everyone stagger and Hikari fall. She yelped as a pair of arms caught her, and opened them to see Lloyd supporting her. "Oh, th-thanks," she asked, offering his offer to help her back up. Lloyd smiled at her slightly, "It's no problem..."

Jay coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'Ishipit' from where he was standing, and they walked out onto the beach they'd crashed onto, to see a tall tower built out of stone. "Who would build a lighthouse way out here?" Lloyd asked, his eyebrow crinkling.

"It's not a lighthouse," Zane said simply, "it's a prison."

They were quite a good way above the ground when a sort of watery growl rumbled, making everyone look behind them at the ocean. "I should've brought an extra pair of underwear," Jay whimpered.

Sensei Wu's brow furrowed. "Mysterious... we'd better keep going!"

And they continued up the stairs up to a door, where a camera whirred to life. "Uh, should we smile?" Jay joked as it whirred, seeming to look at them.

The sound of the door unlocking sounded as Zane looked down, and an old man with completely white hair, a wrinkled face, glasses, and a facial structure that looked relatively similar to Zane's stepped out...

Hikari's eyes widened as he shouted, "Zane! Is that really you?!" He stepped forward and hugged Zane tightly, "You found me!"

"Hikari, is something wrong?" Lloyd asked. Hikari had taken a step back, her eyes flickering purple. "But- bu- how- you- you're supposed to be dead!" she blurted out, shocked.

The next moment she clapped her hands over her mouth, her cheeks pink. "Oh my god, that sounded so rude, I am so sorry-!"

"Not at all," the man said, grinning, as Lloyd gave Hikari an odd look. "Do you know him?"

"Sort of," Hikari said, her voice odd, "that's Zane's... father, creator... whatever you think is correct," she said, her voice oddly high-pitched now.

Zane's eyes widened. "But...! How is that...! My memory tells me you have passed!" Zane exclaimed, "and Hikari's sense says so as well-!"

"Ah, so you found your memory switch," Zane's father said fondly, before a low roar came from the water again. His face went more serious. "Hurry! It can't know that you're here, or else there'll be dues to pay!"

"It?" Jay asked, having turned a funny shade of green. "I'll explain everything inside, including why it is you two thought I was dead."

The entire group flooded inside quickly, eager to escape whatever was in the ocean.

x

Zane's father locked the door and put a bar in front of the door. "Locking... barricading... checking... whew, I think we're safe," he said, sounding relieved, "this way." Hikari was happy to see him put an arm around his son, and happy to see Zane smiling brighter than ever.

At the top of the stairs, they found a brightly lit room, as Zane's father said, courteously, "Please, please, have a seat, you must be thirsty!"

Zane smiled. "Seat...? Where?"

Zane's father pushed a lever, and the huge light in the room disappeared to reveal a table with seats on all ends of it. "There, of course!" he said, as if it were natural for something like that to just pop out of the floor.

Hikari seated herself next to Lloyd as Cole said, "Huh, a technical wizard!" cheerfully.

Jay, thinking no one noticed, stole a pair of trunks off the clothing line that hung from the ceiling, and snuck off. Hikari resisted the urge to dive under the table.

Another button was pressed as a little robot whirred out from underneath where the button was pressed, holding teacups. It then hopped onto the table and neatly put teacups on the table. Hikari's eyes lit up. "Aww, it's cute!" she remarked, and Lloyd grinned. "Of course, THAT'S what you notice."

"And pray tell," Hikari said in a very lofty voice, "what is so bad about that?"

"Nothing, it's just that you seem to notice cuteness even when it's less cute than you are."

Both of them stiffened, cheeks red. Lloyd rubbed his head and chuckled. "B-by which I mean because, since, you know, you were a pretty cute kid, and you- you, um, you look a lot like you did when you were a kid."

Hikari relaxed, her cheeks still pink. "Oh. Okay. If that's all," she said.

Both of them glanced at each other. Neither of them were really aware that the other had the crush on the other, because they were holding out to see if the other had a crush on the other. It was easy to read the situation, and Kai gently banged his head on the table in frustration.

"They should really just kiss already," Jay whispered to Nya, who giggled a bit.

The robot came back around with a teapot and started pouring tea into each cup. Jay tried to play with it by shifting the cup so the robot couldn't pour the tea, although it backfired when the robot poured hot tea right onto his pants. He roared in pain and jumped up, making everyone laugh as he leapt around in pain.

"Father, I don't understand," Zane said, after the laughter had died down, "I saw you pass!"

"Yes you did," Zane's father agreed, "and I tell you, I thought I was kaput! But as you know, in Ninjago, the past is the past..."

"And the future," Misako began to finish, and Sensei Wu finished, "is the future."

"Yes," Zane's father nodded, "but after I turned off your memory switch, what you DIDN'T see, was bonehead Samukai reviving me with a special elixir. He wanted me to create state-of-the-art war machines for their army! But I refused. So, they brought me here and left me with a box of my tools. He said if I didn't, then I would never be able to see my son again. And to make sure I didn't escape, he chained a Leviathan to keep guard."

Hikari's eyes widened. "Is that what we heard in the ocean?" she asked, sounding concerned, as she sipped some tea.

Zane's father nodded confirmation. "Yes... when Samukai didn't return, I thought I'd never see you again," and he looked at his son, "but as so much time has passed, I started to question whether you would WANT to see me again. I was afraid... if you found out what horrible things I'd created, you would think I was a..." He hesitated. "A monster."

Zane stepped closer to his father. "We will get you out of here, father," he said, "now that we are together, perhaps we can invent a way off this rock."

Jay perked up. "Could you repair the rocket boosters on our ship?"

Zane's father walked over to the window to see the Bounty. "That sailing ship has rocket boosters?!" he asked, sounding rather thrilled, as Nya approached. "Well... the rotors and gears are shot..."

Zane's father waved that off with a grin. "Ah, pish posh! No matter! I'll have your ship seaworthy by dawn!"

Another watery growl, and the building began to shake. "It's an earthquake!" Kai exclaimed, and Hikari shook her head. "No, THAT would be the Leviathan," she said, as a tentacle rose from the water.

"It's here! Everyone, hide!" Zane's father hissed, and Hikari automatically dove underneath the table, as everyone scattered. Jay climbed into the rafters, Misako and Wu rushed down the stairs, Lloyd and Kai jumped into the rafters, Nya hid behind a shelf, and Zane's dad sat at the table. Cole hid in a shadow, turning his back to the window.

Hikari pressed herself into the floor and curled up into the smallest ball she could, before clenching her fist. "C'mon... I can control the darkness enough..." she mumbled.

As her fist glowed a dark color of purple, a shadow fell over her, and made her look like a shadow.

See how helpful the darkness is, Hikari? You can let me help! Let me help, and you will never need to worry again.

Not really in the mood, Nariko.

I'm hurt! C'mon, it can't hurt. Let me take over, and you won't have to worry...

I said, no.

As Hikari argued with herself, she barely noticed Zane's father conversing with the Leviathan cheerfully, as if he were happy to see it.

Oh come on, what are you fighting me for? Those boys who call you their friends? That girl who hardly talks to you? The old man and woman who only wish to use you as a tool to destroy your real friends? Or maybe, the boy who can control the light? Is that what you're fighting for?

No... I told you, get out.

Hmm... shame, I don't really want to.

Get. Out.

How about... no?

Lloyd came out from the rafters. "Hikari-?" he froze when he saw the girl, and yanked her out from under the table. Everyone let out a gasp. Hikari was starting to dissolve into dark smoke, and was covered with it. Her eyes were flickering from purple to gray to red to purple again, and her expression was blank.

I don't think you're really trying to save the others. No, I think you just want to hold back your powers because you're SCARED. But what did they ever do for you?

"Hikari..."

Hikari heard a faint sound, and she focused on that, blocking out Nariko's persuasive croon.

"Hikari! Are you... you there?"

It was coming in and out of focus, like a badly tuned radio.

"Hikari!"

Hikari blinked, and the arena was gone, and she was staring into a pair of concerned green eyes. Lloyd let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god you're okay..."

Hikari sat up, blinking. "Was something happening?"

"Yeah, you were kinda dissolving this dark smoke..."

Hikari looked down at herself, watching her fingers solidify back into their smooth, creamy, normal form. "... I see," she said, quietly.

"What happened?"

Hikari stood up, looking at him oddly. "... nothing," she said finally. "I just... drifted off, I guess."

She turned away before he could question her too much, as Kai said, awkwardly, "Well, if we're going to make something to get out of here, we better do it fast, before it gets back."

The rest of the afternoon was spent sewing (more on Hikari and Lloyd's part), building, and drawing out diagrams. Lloyd and Hikari glanced at Cole as they sewed, who was whistling.

"What?!" Cole demanded, "it's catchy!"

Dusk finally fell, and everyone had just eaten one of Zane's meals. Hikari sat next to Lloyd, leaning back on his chest. "Hmm, I can't believe we've gotten this far..."

"How do you mean?"

"Well... one year ago, you'd just gotten kicked out of Darkley's, we'd met the ninja, and you released the Serpentine... and now look, we're off to go fight evil!" Hikari said a bit dreamily.

Lloyd chuckled, looking at the way her hair reflected the light. "I guess that's true..."

"You guess? It is true, you knuckle head," Hikari said, chuckling softly as the two of them stared at the ceiling dazedly. "Not to mention, we found out that I can control death and darkness and destruction..."

"I still can't believe it."

"Why's that?"

"You're just... I dunno... nice," he said. Hikari smirked a little. "Wow. Wonderful reason."

"Oh, shut up," and he gently bopped her on the head with his fist. Hikari chuckled and the two of them lapsed into a both comfortable and awkward silence. Comfortable because they were such good friends, awkward because both of them secretly hoped that they could be MORE than friends.

Hikari finally looked up at him, twisting her head to look at him. "You know, you whispered something back when we were leaving, what was it? I didn't catch it."

"..." Truth be told, Lloyd had red-facedly mumbled that he loved Hikari very quietly to her, but she hadn't caught it, and it'd just slipped out. "That... I... love... the way you're really helpful," he said, awkwardly. It was not a complete lie, if not the whole truth.

"Oh," Hikari said simply and rather casually, "was that it?"

She turned away, looking away now. She'd been hoping that when he'd paused on love that he'd say 'you', but he hadn't. She blushed at the hopeful thought and waved that away.

A huge roar suddenly sounded, and Hikari jolted upright, eyes wide. The two of them trailed after Zane and his father, his dad shouting, "Hurry and get on board! It's coming!"

They'd added a sort of 'blimp' component to the ship, and now everyone climbed on board as a huge tentacle emerged from the water. Then two... then three!

"It's here!" Kai yelled as Hikari grabbed Lloyd's hand and blasted the both of them with a huge, ghostly, fire blast onto the ship. They rolled a bit, but managed to get back to their feet as everyone sprinted aboard.

"Get us out of here, Nya!" Jay yelled to his girlfriend, who ran to the bridge. "I hope she's ready!"

The ship rose out of the water, and nearly escaped, when several tentacles clung to the blimp part, keeping them from taking off. Everyone slid backwards as the ship started descending back towards the water.

"Lloyd, Hikari, use your elemental powers!" Sensei Wu ordered, and the both of them struggled to their feet, before throwing out a huge glowing, pulsing shield that the Leviathan released. They began to take off again, when they now drew taut on the ship again.

Zane was looking over the railing, and shouted, "It's chained!"

He hesitated, before climbing onto the railing. His father shouted, worried, "Zane! What are you doing!?"

"The Leviathan won't let us leave. I think I know a way I can help!" he shouted.

Zane's father practically sprinted over. "But you can't jump in! These oceans are filled with Starteeth!" he sputtered. Zane looked at his father. "I know."

And he leapt into the water below.

"ZANE!" His father shouted.

Hikari put her hands together, worried, as the ship began began to sink to the pint where the back end was submerging. A hand attached to the railing, unbeknownst to everyone else, as the chain suddenly snapped, and the Leviathan let go.

"What happened?" Zane's father asked, and Lloyd ran over to help him. "Zane released the Leviathan, and now it's letting us go!"

"But where is my son?"

"Right there," Hikari said softly, and pointed to a soaking wet Zane emerging from over the railing. The two of them hugged again, as Zane's father said, in relief, "Zane!"

Sensei Wu tilted his head a little. "How did you know that if you freed it from captivity, it would let us go?"

Hikari smiled as Zane said, "Because no one deserves to be held captive. Not even a monster."

Everyone looked as one tentacle, with the three eyes, blinked, before sinking back into the water and swimming away with small waves surrounding it.

"Farewell, creature from the sea," Zane said calmly, "enjoy your freedom."

And finally, they blasted off for the Dark Island.

A/N: Wow, this is the longest chapter so far, and it's not even one of the final chapters! We meet Hikari's parents.

Responses to commenters!

Fanfiction:

MMM: Cool, good to know.

Shelly Marsh: Now you know what Lloyd whispered :) and glad to see Llokari is your OTP five-ever. And the 'love epiphany' xD Nice fun fact, btw.

Michelle Rita: Hehe, glad to see you notice my incredibly (obvious) subtle (xD) relationship. And thanks, I didn't know how I'd make it work, but I did. xD Also that's actually how I made her name, because of that saying and lots of translation sites.

Quotev:

Luna the Eevee: Haha, glad to see you liked Lloyd's admission.

MikuthepinkNinja: Coolio :)

cookiecat567: That would be cool, actually :)

Wattpad:

Cristal Hillman: Hey, thanks!

x.X. A.L. X.x