Aaaand here's another update 😊.
This chapter takes place before the end of the previous one. I was going to call it 'Coming Home' but then I thought it might be misleading because it's gonna be another couple of chapters before we'll get to see the guys again.
But before that, have some 'Samurai Sisters' fluff 😃.

——-

The Nindroids' Book Club

Small waves were lightly rocking the boat and PIXAL readjusted the settings of her internal stabilisers, before she started comfortably walking across the Destiny's Shadow.

The Samurai smiled as she had to stop and take a big step over Lloyd, who was spread out on the hard wooden floor, fast asleep.

While Skylor was at the back steering the ship, Nya was sitting by herself at the bow, watching the sun setting down over the ocean and in the distance, the female Nindroid's advanced optical sensors could make out the shape of the old lighthouse.

"May I join you?" PIXAL asked carefully.

Nya turned her head to smile at her friend. "Sure." She replied.

"Thank you." PIXAL sat down next to her.

"Lloyd's still asleep?" The Master of Water enquired.

"Like a baby." PIXAL replied. "Well, not like little Master Wu. He had far too much tea, keeping him awake."

"And us." The Master of Water laughed. "But Realm Crossing must be a tiring business if even the famous Master of Energy is this exhausted afterwards."

"That was an awful pun, Jay really is rubbing off on you." PIXAL stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks." Nya grinned widely.

"It was not meant as a compliment..."

"It was to me."

PIXAL glanced at the Water Ninja. "Nya? May... I ask you a question?"

"You just did." Nya joked. "Just kidding, go ahead."

"How are you feeling?" PIXAL enquired.

"How am I feeling?" Nya gave the Nindroid a confused look. "I am thrilled that the guys are still alive and I am so excited to get back to Ninjago and tell our parents. Why were you asking?"

"Because you do not act or even look like you are happy at all. You have been very quiet and cried a lot ever since Lloyd has returned from the First Realm. I just... wanted to make sure you are alright."

"Oh, PIX." Nya beamed at her. "This is so sweet of you to worry about me. But I really am fine. I guess I am just... overwhelmed. People do tend to cry a lot when they are this happy."

"As you have said yourself, I am still learning about emotions. My emotional subroutines are constantly updated." PIXAL explained. "But while I have already learned about this kind of behaviour in the literature, I have never witnessed it before to gather my own data and enter it into the algorithm."

"I'm sure you're gonna get a lot more data on this once we get to the swamp." Nya chuckled. "And speaking of books..."

"I assume you are referring to the message Zane has sent to me through Lloyd." PIXAL guessed. "Are you still upset with me for not telling you the meaning of it?"

"What? No, of course not." The Water Ninja quickly reassured her friend. "I was never upset with you about this. Sure, I am super curious what Zane's message to you might have been, but I think it's really cute that the two of you have your own little secret, just between the two of you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, and it's not unusual for couples to have them. I mean, there are things that Jay and I have kept from the rest of you too..."

Nya quickly turned her head to look out again into the open sea, but PIXAL had already noticed the sombre expression on the girl's face.

"Nya?" PIXAL asked worriedly. "What is the matter with you?"

"Oh, it's nothing." The Master of Water shook her head. "Anyway, as you know I haven't been the greatest girlfriend in the past, but I have learned a thing or two. You and your partner can share a secret between yourselves but you should not keep things from each other... Believe me, I know too well what I'm talking about."

"Unfortunately, I have already made this mistake as well and kept me being the Samurai a secret from my friends, including Zane." PIXAL recalled her conversation with Lloyd. "But now I will be able to make up for the lost time."

"Yes, you will." Nya placed her hand on the Nindroid's shoulder. "We all will."

"And I will remember your advice, Nya." PIXAL promised. "You are a good friend."

"And so are you, PIX."

"If I am not mistaken, close friends also share secrets with each other..." PIXAL remarked.

"They do." Nya agreed.

"And... I would like to tell you what Zane's message meant." The Nindroid said. "If you still want to hear it, that is."

Nya straightened up. "Of course." She exclaimed. "I'd absolutely love to know."

"Remember when I told you that, through being part of the team, I have been able to learn a lot about relationships, even when I was still inside Zane's system or the computer. And in order to further extend my knowledge, I have then started studying books on that topic and-"

If Nindroids could blush, this is what PIXAL would be doing profoundly at this moment. But it felt nice to share her thoughts with a friend, especially now when she couldn't connect to Zane's mind to converse with him.

"Well, I have grown quite fond of classic romance novels." The Samurai admitted. "My favourite one being 'Wuthering Heights'. Yet, there were parts I could not fully comprehend at first so I asked Zane to explain them to me. For example. when Catherine describes her love for Heathcliff, she says 'Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.'"

She smiled. "It means they are compatible."

"Awww, that's so sweet." Nya cooed. "So that what Zane's message to you was?"

"It was." PIXAL nodded. "And the other phrase Lloyd told me by mistake would have been "I'm not sure whether he were not at the door this moment."

"Soon, PIXAL." Nya hugged the Nindroid. "Zane - and the others - will be 'at the door' very, very soon."

——-

The Ninja and Samurai reached the mainland by the break of dawn. Skylor, Nya and PIXAL had taken turns piloting the boat across the ocean, letting Lloyd get his much-needed rest.

Although it meant taking a slight detour, this time they went around the city rather than under it. They just had no information what had happened in those few days they had been gone and didn't want to take any risk. After all, they had promised Nya's parents and Misako to return to them safely, and they were set on keeping their promise.

It therefore was not until the late afternoon that they finally arrived at the swamp. While Lloyd had insisted on steering his ship for the last leg of the journey – much to the girls' dismay who all had proven way more skilled in this task than him – Nya was directing him through the maze of water.

"I see the blacksmith shop." The raven haired girl excitedly jumped up and down, causing the small boat to rock. "Over there." She pointed at a small light they could make out through the mist. "We can tie the boat up to the bride."

Lloyd nodded. "Alr..."

"Mum." Nya cried from the top of her lungs. "Dad."

"Nya." Hearing her mother's reply, the impatient Water Ninja jumped out of the shaking boat and, as fast as she could through the knee-deep water, waded to the bank of the narrow stream. The tired Water Ninja was taking a deep breath, gathering her strength to climb out the water, when suddenly a pair of strong hands firmly grabbed her arms and pulled her onto the grass.

"Lou." Nya gasped, recognising Cole's father towering over her. And here she had always thought the Master of Earth had gotten his strength only from his mother's side...

"Nya." A coarse voice muttered. Edna was standing next to Lou, smiling weakly at the young girl.

Nya scrambled to her feet and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's mother.

"Edna." Nya whispered, her eyes welling with tears. "Jay's alive."

She then turned her gaze to Lou, who was silently staring at her, his eyes open in surprise and a questioning – almost desperate – look on his kind face.

"And C-Co..." Nya's voice broke, as she started sobbing uncontrollably. Unable to form another coherent sentence or even just a word, she just smiled at him through her tears and nodded.

She was shaking so much, Nya barely noticed Lou joining into the hug, all three of them crying violently.

She didn't know for how long they were standing like this but suddenly, Nya could feel another pair of soft arms wrapping themselves around her shaking frame.

"Nya." Maya gently rubbed her back as Nya leaned against her, burying her face in the crook of her mother's neck and inhaling the comforting scent of home. "I am so glad you're back. I was so worried for you." Maya said softly.

"Mum. Th-they're a-al..." Nya tried to tell her, but another sob escaped her instead.

"What happened?" Only then Nya realised that Misako as well as her father and Ed had also reached their spot, all looking worriedly at the returning team.

"Did anything go wrong?" Misako asked her son, hugging him tightly.

Lloyd pulled away and smiled at his mother.

"Nothing went wrong." Nya heard him explain. "Wu and the Ninja - Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane. They are alive - and now everything is gonna be alright."