Harumi's POV

     There are many times in life where you know when to keep your mouth shut. Now was one of them. I was flanked by skilled warriors with weapons, and I wasn't about to make them even more irate. I was too busy staring daggers in the back in their heads. Lloyd and Zane led the small group, while the rest of the Ninja surrounded us from other sides. Strangely enough, they were arguing.

      "They don't deserve anything other than a life sentence in Kryptarium." Lloyd hissed. "If I had my way, they'd both be dead before sundown. Especially her." He didn't have to look at me for me to know his luminous green eyes were scathing.

     "Sticking them in Kryptarium will not solve the problem. We all saw Morro die and you saw Harumi fall. The Oni masks are broken, their bodies are buried, and the Rift of Return will not open again until after we are gone. They can't just be here. People don't come back to life randomly, Lloyd." Zane said, his plain voice twisting my gut.

    These were the people who were responsible for my parents deaths. I may have been able to make peace with the fact that my parents were gone, but that didn't stop the bitter hatred from rising in me. It was their struggle for power that almost caused that little boy I saved to turn out like me. How many more had they made like the Quiet One because of their carelessness?

    Lloyd exhaled through gritted teeth. "Who cares how they came back? If they even died. Who's to say they didn't fake their deaths then hide out?"

     "If they did indeed fake their deaths, that doesn't explain the Day of the Departed incident that happened. Not to mention that raises the question about them not revealing themselves until now. Why would they wait then randomly pop out into the open?" Zane's reasonableness was really playing to our side right now.

     "Besides, they actually popped out of thin air according to Ivy," Jay added from behind me. His voice still sounded boyish, but it had gotten deeper.

     "Motormouth's right for once." Cole said. "Ivy said they just appeared."

     "Ivy was freaked out," Lloyd argued, starting to turn around but stopping himself. He didn't even want to look at me. "She could be exaggerating."

     It didn't take long for me to connect the dots. Ivy must have been the woman who saw us.

     "Why don't you just ask them?" Kai pointed to us.

     Lloyd's withering glare answered that question. A strong gust of wind blasted us from the front as Destiny's Bounty slowly descended onto an open field. It looked newer than when I last saw it, but also older, as if it had been through many battles. I let the dust and debris of the warm air hit my face, simply because I had too much pride to cower in front of the Ninja.

     My friends. My enemies.

     "Oh wow." Nya's cold voice echoed from the ship's deck. She was taller and more defined with years of training, looking less like a girl and more like a woman. "I never thought I'd see these two again."

     "Neither did we," Lloyd muttered, rubbing a spot on his chest.

     "Morro." Wu's eyebrows raised as he joined Nya on the deck. The old man had long grown out of the toddler I had last saw him in and had donned grey and white robes that looked way too significant for normal clothes. His stare was even colder than Nya's when he saw me. I refused to shrink away from it, keeping my head high. The peacefulness of the Cloud Kingdom was wearing off with each step I took away from that life. It wouldn't be long before I snapped.

     Morro bowed. "Sensei Wu." He was poked in the back with the handle of a sword.

    "No talking," Kai scolded. The Ninja led us onto the Bounty. Wu met his ninja with a disapproving stare as they continued to flank us on the deck.

    "If you didn't remember, without Morro we wouldn't be here. He helped us realize Sensei Yang's plan on the Day of the Departed. Show some respect to him."

     I exhaled. Perhaps the Ninja wouldn't be so harsh to us after all. Morro could explain our situation, the Ninja would let us go, we would never have to deal with them again.

     "Her on the other hand," Wu gestured to me. "Feel free to poke." Morro started to protest but Wu cut him off. "Morro, my pupil, how did you return to Ninjago?"

     "A portal." The sarcasm was obvious in Morro's voice. He obviously respected Wu, but he was annoyed with the Ninja and therefore wanted to make their interrogation as hard as possible.

     "The Oni masks are destroyed, and your body is supposed to be buried in the Endless Sea. As far as I know, there is no other way to escape the Departed Realm."

     Morro thought about that, his face twisting into with his various ideas on how to reply. He glanced at me and reached into a pocket. He met Wu's eyes. "I can show you everything." Morro held out the packet of Memortea.

     I gasped, reaching out to pull down his arm. I could hear the Ninja start to rustle at my sudden movement. "You only have one chance to show the truth. Is this really how you want to use yours?" I whisper-hissed as several weapons pressed against my back.

     "Not another move, Quiet One." Kai's voice was scathing.

     Morro's gaze was steady as he slowly turned back to his master. The air seemed to shift very slightly, but I wasn't sure if I had imagined it.

     Wu was fixated on the packet. "Memortea," he breathed. "It's very rare. How did you get it?"

    "Mistake gave it to us," Morro said calmly.

    "Mistake? She died a long time ago protecting the city from her." Nya seethed, pressing her spear harder against my back. No blood had been drawn yet, but if we angered them more there probably would be.

    Wu waved Nya's comment off. "Where is our friend now?"

     "In the First Realm," Morro replied, seemingly not concerned with the bristling Ninja around him. "She has been tasked with leading the fallen Oni."

     I wondered how Morro could be so calm about all of this, especially when all I wanted to do was smack them all for being inconsiderate jerks. That's when it hit me. Morro's fingers were clenching and unclenching out of view of the Ninja. His jaw tightened with each word he spoke, his eyes betraying his frustration and fear. To the normal onlooker though, he was as placid as they came. Morro was doing the very thing he had mastered in the Departed Realm.

    Masking his emotions.

    "You're a dirty liar!" Lloyd exclaimed, his voice cracking, "Mistake is dead."

    "If Morro and Harumi could mysteriously come back from the dead, who is to say Mistake couldn't have come back as well?" Wu said, his eyes never leaving the packet of Memortea. "Very well, my former pupil, come with me. Show me the secrets of how you got here."

    The Ninja stood in a shocked silence while Morro pushed away their pressing weapons. He made a face at them before extending a hand to me. There was an arrogant half-smile on his face, as if he had just solved all the problems in the universe.

     "Master," Lloyd jumped in before I could pull myself to my feet, "what if that isn't the memory tea that Morro claims it is? What if it is a poison or something worse?"

     Wu's gaze turned sour. "I trust Morro, whether you do or not. I trust that he is actually holding Memortea and that he is a reformed man."

     Morro shot Lloyd a triumphant grin before pulling me to my feet. I could only start to muster a smile before a bunch of sharp objects poked me hard enough to leave a bruise.

    "Her, on the other hand, lock her in a spare room. We don't want the Quiet One reuniting with her allies unless it's in handcuffs and a prison uniform." Wu's voice lowered as several hands jerked my wrists behind my back. I started to protest, but the Ninja were too trained in catching criminals to let me have any way to wriggle out of their grip. I gave them all murderous glares as they tugged me into the cabins of the Bounty.

     Morro shot me a desperate look before being led away by Wu. The air seemed to shift again, stronger this time.

     "Come on, Quiet One," Jay's eyes were narrowed as they forced us apart. I followed the blue ninja without a sound, not trusting my own temper. Lloyd and Nya followed me close behind, both of their weapons drawn. Silently I cursed the thief for ever bringing me here in the first place.

>(<>)<

Morro's POV

     Sensei Wu watched me closely as I poured hot water into a cup. I had put half the packet in, just as Erasmus instructed. As much as I wanted to make a run for Harumi and escape from the ghosts of my past, I had to be patient. This might be our only reasonable way out of the Ninja's grasps. As we waited for the tea to brew, Sensei started to speak.

     "I've only heard about the Memortea in legends. Rumor says that it allows the drinker to see another's memories."

     "I told you you'd see everything." I said as the tea took on an odd hue of orange. I stirred the water quickly, anxious to get this over with. "Erasmus said to put our fingers on each other's temples in order for me to not go insane."

     "Erasmus?" Sensei questioned, lifting the cup to his mouth.

     "As I told you," I said, "you will see it all."

     Sensei hesitated. "How do I know that Lloyd isn't correct in that you are actually trying to poison me?"

     "I saved your team on the Day of the Departed," I replied, hiding my desperation for this to work behind deep breaths and smooth inflections. I had trouble in the Cloud Kingdom practicing the art I had mastered in the Departed Realm. But Ninjago wasn't the Cloud Kingdom. Suppressing my emotions may not save my life from demons, but it might keep Harumi from being harmed any further. "I've changed."

     "You came to us with a heinous villain at your side. How can I be sure that you aren't working with her?"

     I tensed, a crack in my facade. "She has changed too. I can prove it. All you need to do is drink the tea."

     Sensei simply watched me. My mind swirled with last minute cards I could play until he slowly nodded. Sensei took a long gulp of the tea and set it down. I placed my first two fingers of each hand on his temples. Sensei copied me. The world started to get fuzzy, which was strange since I hadn't consumed any tea. I blinked to try to make the world clear again.

     When I opened my eyes, I wasn't sitting in the Bounty anymore. I wasn't touching Sensei. In fact, I couldn't see him at all. All I could see around me was the Departed Realm. Gasping, I tried to find Sensei only to find I wasn't in control of me at all. It came to me instantly. I wasn't in control because this was a memory.

     "Agh," past me groaned. "Where am I?"

     A cold feeling washed over me. This was why Erasmus said I had to walk through my memories with Sensei. I had to live through them again. As past me experienced everything, I re-felt everything I had experienced, every bit of pain and loss. I could smell the smoke; I could feel the sweat dripping off of me. I watched everything; from the moment I met my friends in the Departed Realm to the moment I met Harumi. I saw myself begin my path of change. The realization that I had to protect my friends. The pain I felt losing them to the demons. I saw the events of the Day of the Departed; I saw it all. The vision showed things I had forgotten, stolen moments I could only faintly remember seeing. It all passed in what seemed to be real-life time. Every moment was real, every moment was breathtakingly painful.

     I watched Harumi slowly learn to trust in her allies. I watched my friends sacrifice themselves for us. I saw Malevolence taunting Mika, I felt hysterical when I was locked in dark chamber, suffering from poison. I speculated Erasmus teaching Harumi and I about what to do when we arrived here. I felt pain when Mistake left; I felt the calming air of the Cloud Kingdom wear off when we arrived in Ninjago. Finally, I saw myself being led into the tea room. I brewed the tea, told Sensei I'd changed, and watched the world get dizzy. Then, things went dark.

     Suddenly, my fingers twitched on my own command. Looking up, I saw Sensei leaning back, putting a hand to his head. I blinked a few times, trying to process everything that had just happened.

    "Did you see that?" I stuttered, trying to wrap my brain around what just happened.

    "That was intense," he murmured after a second. "I saw everything. I felt everything. It was like I was you living through it."

    "Do you understand now?" I carefully asked.

    He nodded, rubbing his temples. "This changes everything."

     Silence filled the air as he tried to process what he had just seen. I fiddled with the half-empty Memortea packet, anxiously awaiting his verdict. If Sensei told his Ninja that we weren't exactly evil anymore, they would fall into line. The leaves inside the small wrapping shriveled and turned black. Erasmus was right when he told us about the leaves dying once the others were used.

     "Morro, I have one question." Sensei said with a strained voice.

     "Anything Sensei," I replied.

     "How do you know Harumi isn't playing you too? I know she looked like she was good in your memories, but she convinced us all once before. She blatantly admitted to you that she was wearing masks. How can you be so sure she won't betray you?"

     I wiped my black hair out of my eyes. "She saved my life," I said quietly. "In her mind I had done nothing but hand her over to an eternal death. I deserved to fall. But she saved me. She had no reason to, but she still did it. That has to say something, doesn't it?"

    A faint squeak sounded from outside. Both Sensei and I went silent. Sensei got up and looked outside the room. "No one," he said, returning to his spot. "I wouldn't put it past my ninja to eavesdrop, though. About what you said. That does seem like good proof except, I still don't feel like that's enough. I never saw firsthand what she did to Lloyd but, I do know that whatever arrow she shot hit him hard. He has never been the same since she died. I can't take one moment and decide she won't do it again now."

     "You saw my memories!" I protested, desperation clogging up my throat. "You saw there was more than just one good moment. She has changed Sensei."

     "I still don't trust her," Sensei replied.

     I bit my lip, brainstorming ideas break out and escape. I wasn't sure if my powers still existed, but I was sure I could still pack a punch. "Are you going to send her to Kryptarium, then?"

     He sighed, noticing the shift in my tone. "I don't know, Morro."

     I knew this was my last shot at diplomacy. "Give her time. Let her prove to you that she really has changed. We could... we could stay with you and the Ninja, as long as you all don't poke us to death. That way you could always have an eye on us. If we step out of place, then it will be easy to apprehend us."

     Besides, if we got the Ninja to trust us, then we might be one step closer to figuring out what Malevolence was planning and what the thief had in mind for our destinies.

     "Hmm," Sensei stroked his beard. "I have a better idea."

     Whatever it was, I knew it was better than jail.

>(<>)<

Lloyd's POV

     Harumi was here. She was alive. She was walking right in front of me, her head held high in a silent defiance. Part of me still couldn't process it, the other part was too angry to care. I thought she was dead. I thought I had lost her forever.

     Nya frostily watched our prisoner while Jay led us to the spare room. She was focused on her task, as was Jay. They weren't distracted by each other. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the hurricane going through my mind. It was so hard. Every time I thought I had myself under control, my gaze would slide down until I noticed the lump under Nya's glove. When I looked up, I would see the matching ring on Jay's hand. They had been married for a few months now. Kai and Skylor were engaged. Zane and PIXAL's relationship was still going strong. Every time I saw the wedding rings, I was reminded of the love I once had. The love I found in Harumi. But she was evil. She was a traitor, a murderer, and I hated how I still grieved for her.

     Now, she was in front of me. I felt ready to punch the wall. Ninjago had been attacked by various evil forces for years. We were finally getting a period of peace. The city was done being rebuilt. Everything should be going on the path to peace, a path where I could finally settle down and live a normal life. Then, Harumi had to waltz in and ruin everything.

     Jay opened the door to the spare room. "You'll be staying here until further notice. Don't try to leave."

     Harumi jerked her wrists out of Nya's iron grip, crossing her arms as soon as they were free. The look on her face was familiar even though I hadn't seen it in forever.

    "Nothing to say?" I asked, clenching my fists to remain in control over my emotions. Too much time had passed for me to act like a fool because of her again.

     Harumi snorted. "I am the Quiet One according to you. Why should I be required to speak?"

    Jay glanced between us, nervously judging which one of us would be the first to strike. He exchanged some nonverbal message with Nya and said in a gentler voice. "The bathroom is down the hall. If you need to go just knock twice. We'll escort you."

    Harumi nodded, shutting the door in front of her. "I'll stand guard first," Nya offered before anyone could step in.

     "I'll step in next hour," Jay said. They both agreed. Ever since they had exchanged the vows of matrimony, they seemed to speak a different language than the rest of us. I wished someone understood me the way they understood each other. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy for them. It was just that everyone was growing up, and I seemed to be stuck behind.

     Jay and I left the hall. Quietly, we made our way to Master Wu's study. Not surprisingly, Cole, Kai, and Zane had their ears pressed against the door. I moved over to them and pressed my own ear against the door. Jay scrunched his way into the group. All of us were holding our breaths yet, all I could hear was the frantic beating of everyone's hearts. After a few seconds, Cole moved back.

     "They've been dead silent for over a minute," he whispered, running a hand through his shaggy black hair.

     "The last thing someone said was something about drinking tea." Kai pressed his ear back against the door, being careful not to mess up his hairstyle.

     "I still don't trust this," I muttered.

     "I trust Morro more than I trust Harumi." Cole replied.

     "Wait," Zane said. He held up a hand, the mechanics behind his eyes flashing. "They're stirring."

     We all huddled next to the door.

     "D-did... see that?" Morro's voice was faint.

     "That... intense..." Master Wu's voice was even harder to hear.

     "What's he saying?" Kai mouthed to Zane. 

     Zane shrugged. "You all are being too loud for my sensors to pick up anything."

     The only thing we could hear next was a blur of the two's conversation. The noise each of us made as we squished together to get to the door blocked out the discussion. We only caught bits of what they were saying. "See... changes everything... question... Sensei... memories... mask."

     "Why can't eavesdropping ever be easy?" Jay complained, stepping away from the door.

     The others silently agreed, all of them backing up quietly. When they did, the rustling of bodies unblocked the noise coming in from the door. What I heard next was not unclear.

     "She saved my life. In her mind I had done nothing but hand her over to an eternal death. I deserved to fall. But she saved me. She had no reason to, but she still did it. That has to say something, doesn't it?" Morro's voice said softly, a touch of gentleness sneaking into his tone.

     Harumi saved his life?

    I leaned back, trying to process what I just heard, when the floorboards beneath me squeaked. My friends clamped their hands over their mouths. We all heard Master Wu get up. There was one inaudible message going between us now.

    Scram.

    We all scurried away from the door. By the time Master Wu opened it, no one was there. I found myself walking back to my bedroom. Once the adrenaline of a quick escape wore off, I found what I overheard circling through my head. Harumi saved Morro's life. Why would she do that? According to Morro, she had no reason too. There had to be some sort of angle. Everything with Harumi had an angle, didn't it? Didn't she always manipulate people for her own gain? Wasn't she always wearing a mask?

     Hours later, I couldn't sleep. Morro had been given another spare room to stay in, one we had to guard as well. Neither him nor Harumi had tried to escape so far, but none of us any less cautious. The others had decided that I should be the last person to be on duty watching either, seeing as I had the most past with both of them.

     It was well past midnight when I started my shift guarding the spare rooms. I sat against Morro's room's door. Jay had fixed it so it only locked from the outside. Even if Morro was able to pick the lock (unlikely) he wouldn't be able to move the door without a lot of force since I was leaning against it. Harumi's room was right across from his, which was convenient, so I could constantly watch her door. I twiddled my thumbs as the clock ticked steadily away the seconds. It wasn't tiredness that distracted me, it was my own racing thoughts. Each little thing I perceived became a reality in my mind. A voice beckoning me to follow it into the past I had lived. I was bored and my mind was very awake with a memory I had lived on a night just like this one.

    Twitch. Twitch.

     The movement of my fingers became the rustling of my whole body as it worked.

     Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

     The ticking of the clock became the sound the stones made when I stacked them together. The moonlight peeking in through the windows became the full moon's harsh light beating against my back as I struggled. The wisps of hair in my face became the sweat, blood, and tears I was shedding. The silence on the Bounty became the silence I was trying to achieve.

    When the apartment building downtown was knocked over by the Colossus, several hundred people had died in the collapse. News went around that the infamous Quiet One had died when it fell. After the defeat of my father, all of us started to rebuild what the Sons of Garmadon had broken. No one wanted to rebuild the broken apartment building. Some person had spread the rumor that if the building was restored, Harumi's ghost would haunt all who lived there. Needless to say, word of reconstructing the apartment building vanished. People salvaged what valuables they could and left the rest alone. Over time, grass began to grow on the abandoned parts, until it looked like a sad mix between concrete and a nice hill. Graves for the fallen loved ones were built around the remains but never on them.

    It was during that time that I decided to build Harumi a grave. She had been horrible to me, yes, but I also couldn't stay mad at her forever. I had heard many rumors that she had saved a family from her fate in her last moments. Even though she was an atrocious person, I knew deep down I still loved her and that she still had a speck of good in her. So, in the dead of night, I climbed the remains and used the discarded stones to build a grave.

    I had put everything I had into it. Day after day of work rebuilding the city had worn us all out. It was really hard to stay up all night working, knowing that at dawn you had to start another long day of carrying heavy things and sweeping. I stacked stone after stone, fused together by nothing but my own power. I carved the letters into it; I stood vigil for the rest of the night. It was there I had decided to forgive her for everything she had done. I knew I truly grieved her because of how much I cried that night. For the girl who was alone all of her life. For the girl who had no one to love her back. For the girl who had found love in me, even if it was manipulated.

    The citizens of Ninjago City were outraged to find the stone cross, but no one could find who made it. Every time I saw it, I bowed my head and smiled, as if it were a prayer that Harumi would be somewhere better. Then, months later, she shows up alive. All of it was for nothing. Now, I couldn't find the same unconditional love for her that had inhabited me that night. All I could feel was resentment and hate. It was now I realized I had not forgiven Harumi for what happened. I hadn't forgiven her at all.

     The sound of knocking brought me back to my senses. I looked up as it sounded again. Two simple taps against the door. I got to my feet.

     "Excuse me?" Harumi's voice took on a hint of frustration, despite her obvious drowsiness.

     I narrowed my eyes. Yanking the door open, I let irritation take over. "What do you want?"

     Her face turned scarlet when she saw me. She took a step back, coughing once into her fist. "I-I just need to relieve myself and Jay said that—"

     "Come on." I cut her off, unsheathing my sword as a reminder of what would happen if she tried anything. She brushed past me, huffing at my threat. She was two seconds from being maimed for her attitude.

     I blew my blonde hair out my eyes as I stood guard. Harumi went in and out quickly, not even shooting me half a glance before making her way back to her room. Her door was halfway closed before I couldn't hold it in.

    "Wait."

     Harumi looked up, a hand on her hip. I couldn't meet her blue stare; it was too intense for me to handle.

    "Did you really save Morro's life?" I had to know.

    Her whole façade softened slightly as she gave me a curt nod.

     I flailed for words, my head swimming with a million replies. Harumi watched my reaction, her gaze turning sourer with each passing second.

     "You think I wasn't capable of doing something good?"

     "I-I..."

    "Time changes people, Lloyd." My name on her tongue was sickening to hear. "But it obviously hasn't changed you."

    She shut the door in my face, not exactly doing so quietly. I stood in a shocked silence in front of it, not knowing how to react. As soon as our collective bedroom's door opened and Kai poked his head out, I boiled over.

     "Lloyd? What's going on?"

     I exhaled angrily, shoving the hilt to my swords into his hands. "I need a break."

     "What did she say to you?" Kai's voice was low. His knuckles turned white on the handles of my blades.

     When I met his eyes, I found a startling amount of overprotectiveness there. He would kill Harumi in an instant if it spared me from hurt. The usually dull pain in my chest spasmed to the point where I flinched and grasped at my heart. The pain had appeared a while ago, never seeming to act up on a consistent basis. No doctor had a cure for it, but it had never bothered me as bad as now. Kai started towards me.

     I put a hand on the wall to steady myself. He didn't need to worry; everything was fine. Harumi didn't matter anyway.

     "I'm good." I said slowly, trying to steady my breath. "I just need a minute to breathe."

     Kai studied me with his messy bed hair and fuzzy pajamas for a good amount of time. He slowly nodded after I had regained my breath. "One minute. Any longer and we're going to wake Master Wu and get some special tea. Don't try to hide the pain."

     I didn't dare argue.

     Out on the deck, I paced around the mast, cursing myself, my fragile heart, and the way destiny seemed to treat me. Why did Harumi have to show up? I was living my life just fine until she came along. She hadn't been here for a day yet and already I was being an idiot. Already my mind was a swirling mess and my heart literally ached.

    I couldn't let her act cloud my vision. She was wearing a mask, just like before. Harumi couldn't have changed. It was too unlikely. She probably still had a plan to take over Ninjago and I couldn't let feelings or distractions keep me from protecting my home. Tomorrow, Master Wu would sentence her to Kryptarium and I would be free of her presence forever. Everything would turn out alright. All I had to do was wait.