Harumi's POV

     Darkness.

     I couldn't see, feel, or hear anything. The darkness was my companion; it swirled within and around me, letting me float in its painless abyss. I couldn't think; I couldn't grasp anything. The darkness might feel suffocating to some, but to me, it was everything I needed. The darkness carried no lies, it carried the weight of no sacrifices, and it carried an illusion that spared me from the ugly truth. I was content in it, and it in me.

     Voices.

     Words buried their way into my haven, burdened with pleas and tears. So many emotions came with the voices, even if I couldn't understand what they were saying. Pity, hurt, sorrow. Why were the voices sad? What could possibly have happened to make them miserable? If only they could find the darkness. Then, they would be content.

     I did not know how long I stayed wrapped in the fuzzy world of nothing. I'm not sure when the voices started to worm their way in. All I know is that they became clearer over time. If I kept waiting, perhaps one day they would become clear enough to understand. Something inside me wanted to understand them; some part of me wanted to shrug off this false reality to see the world once again. However, the voices were sad, and I was happy. If I tried to understand them, I would probably have to join in their sorrow. Surely the real world wasn't as comfortable as this one.

     But the voices persisted. Each syllable cut sharper than a knife, igniting pain within me I didn't know I had. Suddenly I could feel limbs; suddenly I could twitch and it would cause more pain than my mind could handle. Suddenly the world was not comfortable, but a world of agonizing eruptions and tears. Why was I in so much pain? Why did every time I try to reach out to those voices, I ended up barely breathing because of the anguish in my chest?

     As time passed, I started to understand the words that pleaded to me over and over again. Every time I heard them; it was like a knife digging into my skull of a reality I didn't want to face. But the real world was imminent, and I couldn't escape the words that begged me to come back.

     Wake up.

     Please, come back.

    We can't lose you too.

    Wake up, Harumi.

    Somewhere in the blurriness of it all, my eyelids became heavy. My fingers twitched, sending sparks of pain up my arms. The world was a bright reality hidden behind a thin layer of skin. I couldn't move; something was holding me in place. I wanted to thrash until I figured out what was keeping me captive. However, I knew the pain that would accompany the action. My mind whirled for the first time in forever, trying to grasp the situation. Out of desperation I tore open my eyes, banishing the darkness from my mind.

     I wanted to yell, wanted to scream, but somehow no sound made it out of my mouth. I swallowed, the action feeling unfamiliar. It was as if I hadn't functioned in days, months, years. How long was I unconscious? How long had I been restrained? How long since the demons had dragged me away to torture me in an endless session of pain?

     Memories came flooding back with each second.

     Lloyd's courage as he resisted the Overlord. The Overlord's wicked grin as he plunged the sword down into my heart. My peace as I let it happen.

     I must have blacked out when I landed in the Departed Realm. The demons must have dragged me away and wanted to wake me up so my torture would worsen. Yet, the more I looked at the small area I was enclosed in, the more I felt like I wasn't in the Departed Realm at all.

    A door slammed open. Immediately, a robotic face shoved itself into view, along with several unfamiliar adults.

     Zane?

     I tried to say the words, but nothing came out of my mouth. This was most certainly not the Departed Realm. Unless the Overlord had killed Zane too. But Zane wasn't a villain. He wouldn't go where I would go.

     "Do not be frightened." His voice was strangely calm against all the panic rising in my chest. If I was alive, then did the Overlord realize it was all a plan to save Lloyd? If I was alive, then did Lloyd die in my place? How could I have survived that blow? The sword was aimed straight for my heart!

     Something poked me in the side, sending off a thousand more nerves of agony. All I could muster was a faint moan as a blaring headache tried to force nonexistent tears out of my eyes.

     "You've been unconscious for a while. This is the first time the doctors have seen you awake, so they are running a lot of tests to make sure you are moving steadily in your recovery." Zane explained.

     "Can you swallow?" A heavily accented female voice sounded from beside me. A cold substance was pressed against my lips. I drank in the sweet liquid, my taste buds relishing something after being unused for so long.

     "I called the others as soon as I saw you wake up." Zane said. "They will be here shortly."

     The medicine had put enough liquid in my mouth where I felt I could speak.

     "Lloyd?" I managed to croak out. The action reminded me of how unfit for talking I still was, yet I knew I could handle the pain for this. I had to know. My heart felt like it was dying with each second I didn't know the truth.

     Zane gave me a half smile. "He's doing okay. His wounds were a bit worse than yours, but the doctors have assured us every day that he is on his way to a full recovery. He's not going to die."

     I sank into the pillow I didn't know I was propped up on, my momentary panic subsiding. I had saved his life. Lloyd was going to be okay. I hadn't failed.

     The new information didn't stop the nagging thought in my head that asked why wasn't I dead? The Overlord had pierced me straight through with that sword... right? I felt it hit me. So, why wasn't the blow fatal?

     "I know you must have a lot of questions, but right now you need to rest. Focus on eating what you can of this broth." Zane held up a bowl. "Once you can ask us questions, we'll be happy to answer them. Deal?"

      I gave the tiniest nod I could, since doing much more would make my whole chest ache.

     The doctors took over my line of view as Zane backed up to let them do their work. I slurped down as much of the lukewarm broth as my weak digestive system could handle. Each swallow hurt more than I wanted to admit. Each touch the doctors applied to me set off a ricocheting mess of pain that made me wish for the darkness once again. I clenched my teeth and dealt with it. If I could withstand the agonizing reality, then I would get answers. Answers to the questions that threatened to tear me apart.

     Before long, the prodding of the doctors receded, leaving me with several familiar ninja faces hovering around my bed. Their expressions ranged from nervous to relieved. Yet, seeing the little concern there was in their faces brought a light into the uncertainty of the unknown.

     They cared.

     They cared that I was awake; they cared that I was recovering. I realized it was their voices trying to carry me out of the darkness. They wanted me to come back. My lips twitched into a smile at seeing the Ninja once again. Maybe, just maybe, we could finally put everything behind us and be companions once again.

     Seeing my faint smile, their faces warmed.

     None of us knew what to say, but silence must always be broken.

     I realized there was one face among them I didn't see. He wouldn't have missed me waking up for the world.

     "Where's Morro?"

     Instantly, the room became sour.

     "He couldn't be here right now." Nya spoke first. Her voice was sympathetic, too careful to be telling the truth. I knew that tone.

     "Where is he?!" I thrashed against the bonds, sending a blinding amount of pain through my body. Somewhere in the room the doctors yelled to restrain me. Hands applied pressure to my arms, my legs. I wanted to pass out from the suffering each movement caused me.

     "He's not here. He'll come as soon as he's able." Kai retraced his sister's words, trying to meet my eyes. None of the other Ninja would look at me.

     "You're lying!" My voice threatened to give out.

     Hands touched my own bandaged ones. It was Cole that stepped forward and sighed. "You're right. We shouldn't lie."

     Everyone in the room shot him warning looks, except Zane and PIXAL. Both of them seemed to understand. PIXAL took my other hand as Cole continued.

     "I know you are surprised to be alive. We were surprised too. We still don't know what happened that day we found you bleeding to death, however, we were certain someone tried to kill you. Except, the sword that struck you didn't go as deep as the killer intended. There was another..." His voice wavered. "... something to save you from the mortality of the blow."

     Everyone had tears in their eyes, though they were trying to hide it. I could barely breathe.

     "He died for you."

     I don't know who said it. I don't know what they said afterwards. The minute the gravity of the words sunk into my brain, I could feel reality slipping away once again. My own heartbeat was the only sound in my ears. Each breath became meaningless. The darkness grasped at the edge of my blurry vision, beckoning, calling to let it drag me away with it.

     This time, I did not fight it. I wanted to escape the cruel reality where what the Ninja said was true. I needed to sink back into the place where no pain could reach me. But it was too late. I could no longer feel the physical wounds of battle. My heart breaking created more agony than I could ever imagine.

     He died for you.

     Everything was numb. Every sense in my body had left me. Nothing remained but the shattered pieces of my heart. If there was even a heart left to shatter.

     The world had taken away everything from me: my parents, my life, the only truth I had held close, and now Morro. He was the only thing I had left to hold on to. I thought I could brave the storm of loss, should he be at my side. But I was a fool. I should have seen this coming. Of course, of course the only thing I had left should be stripped from me. I was an Oni. A destructor. Everything, everyone I came in contact with had to be lost. I only caused death and decimation.

     There was nothing left for me. Nothing I could hold on to. Nothing to help me keep the pieces together.

     I'm not sure what happened next. Everything was a blur in my mental haze. I may have woken up again, that would explain the liquids running down my throat and the needles drawing out samples of blood. I may have been pleaded to, but the voices were nothing in the light of the only words that kept playing in my mind over and over again.

     He died for you.

     Somewhere in the mess the restraints were loosened, I could sit up, and the broth stopped coming. The doctors expected me to feed myself. I never did. I was too numb to care.

     He died for you.

     Moonlight shined in my eyes. Whoever was looking after the room had left the curtains open to let in some of the fresh night air. It was torture. Every time I felt a gentle breeze blow in, I felt the hole in my soul grow bigger. It was like the world was taunting me with the memory. I felt a rush of indignance. I should be the one dead. What I did was my sacrifice, not Morro's. Why did he have to save me? Why did he have to die?

     A noise brought my attention to the blonde boy across the room. I didn't understand why the doctors put Lloyd in the same room as me; it was probably easier to monitor our progress this way. I pushed the restraints up on the bedframe to sit up. The doctors had cleverly designed their little bed to allow me some movement but also to keep me from messing up my recovery.

     The pain that accompanied that action was dull. Pain was an insignificant force in my life. No physical wounds could even compare to the gaping anguish in my heart, so why even pay attention to outward healing? Often times I wondered what the point was of trying to recover. No amount of waiting and medicine could fix the endless brokenness inside.

     Lloyd whimpered again, a smile spreading across his face. He must have been having good dreams. He was sleeping on his side, with his hands tucked under his head. Somehow, Lloyd was recovering faster than I was. His wounds were far worse than mine, yet he was already unrestrained and able to move freely in his bed. I don't know if he could do more than that, since I spent my days dealing with my own trauma.

     Something sparked inside of me at the sight of him. My head tilted as I tried to process the emotion. Seeing Lloyd, a healing Lloyd, I suddenly felt the presence of a heart once more. Even though I had lost so much, even though everything I knew and loved was gone, he was healing. Lloyd was saved. At least that part of my sacrifice had not failed.

     The breezes once more sailed in through the open window, awaking new sensations along my forearms. They were gentle, calming, almost hopeful. I don't know how I could gather that much from feeling them, but somehow, I knew.

     When I looked at Lloyd again, a bubble of words sprung up my throat. "Why is it... why is it when I think about what happened..."

     My thoughts were traitorous; they made me hate myself even more. Yet, deep down, I knew they were true.

     "... why is it that if it could happen again... I'd do the same thing over and over? Even knowing what would come next... I would still die for you. Does that make me a terrible person?"

     Lloyd couldn't hear me. He was wrapped up in his dreams, without a care in the world. Self-loathing returned to me, more vibrant than ever. How could I even dare to feel that way? How could I betray Morro just by thinking that? Questions poured through my mind, swirling faster than ever.

     "Why is it that ever since you became involved in my life, everything just got messy? Why did you have to show me a different side to everything; why did you have to bring me out of the numbness to show me what the most beautiful feeling in the world is? What did you do to me to make me love you enough to die for you?"

     The winds pressed against me as my breaths got shaky once again. I slid back down into a flat position. Sleep, a return to realm of unfeeling, was impossible, for a new realization had awoken inside of me.

     The darkness had been comforting to me.

     But there was more than that.

     It was familiar.

     Now I knew why.

    The darkness had been a step in the vision I had seen a long time ago, in the deserts of the Seventh Realm. It was part of the images that Morro and I couldn't tell were hallucinations or visions.

    I had seen Ninjago rebuilt. I had seen a city in the clouds. I had seen darkness and light. And I remembered the last part. The part I had forgotten.

     I had seen Morro's death. 

    Morro said it might have been a vision of the future. Now, I could see he was absolutely right. Ninjago rebuilt was about us returning to Ninjago. The city in the clouds was the Cloud Kingdom. The darkness was the fuzzy reality of nearly dying, and the Overlord casting us all into shadow. The light was the light that had come before seeing my parents with the Ancestea.

     I had seen Morro's death. I should have been able to prevent it. I should have been able to save him.

     New sorrow was birthed in my soul, settling in and calling me to sink into it. I didn't care how much this would set back my recovery. I didn't care about anything anymore.

     I had seen his death, and I had done nothing to prevent it.

     I really was a monster.

>(<>)<

Cole's POV

     "Her physical wounds are healing properly, but we believe the slower process is caused by emotional turmoil." The doctor checked her x-ray pictures again. Her voice was accented with the outskirt Ninjago language to the point of annoyance. I guess it didn't matter what she sounded like; since she had been taking care of Harumi since she arrived. "I just don't get it. Sure, someone died that was close to her, but wouldn't she at least want to recover for her family?"

     "Her family is dead." I said, trying to remember the doctor's name. Her name tag was currently hidden under some sort of sanitary apron.

     The doctor pursed her lips. "Okay, but she has friends to come back for, right?"

     I couldn't meet her eyes. "No, her only friend just died."

     "Doesn't she at least want to recover so she can go home?" The doctor tried, wincing slightly at my tone.

     "She doesn't have a home. She was only staying with us temporarily."

     The doctor sighed. "Well, that brings things into light."

    "What things?"

     "Her vitals have... slowed down. I'm not sure how to say this nicely, but I don't think she's going to make it."

     "How is that saying it nicely?!" I groaned, looking back over at the unconscious Harumi, whose face seemed to pale more every day. She didn't even stir at my loud voice.

     "Look, medicine can only help someone so much." The doctor waved her charts around. "Why do you think your friend is recovering a lot faster than this girl? He has motivation to get better. This girl has none of that. She is losing her will to live, simply because you couldn't delay the bad news. She will die because she has nothing left to fight for."

     The doctor sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Listen, Cole, I will do what I can for her. But this grief might be too much. If you want her to live, you must give her motivation to recover. That is the only way I believe she will make it."

     The doctor turned around to leave, exposing her name tag long enough for me to make out what it said. Though, I didn't care what her name was anymore. The endless rush of regret piling in my head was enough to occupy my thoughts.

     "Regardless of what Geri said, I think you made the right decision telling Harumi what happened."

     I looked over to see Seliel sitting in the corner of the room, a magazine on her lap. I had forgotten she was there. Seliel had arrived only a few days ago, claiming her 'assistant' could handle things for a few more days. I doubted this assistant actually existed; that was why I had sent her home after our time at the old Cloud Kingdom Temple.

     I knew nothing I said would make a difference now. Even though I protested her leaving her hometown again, she showed up at the hospital's lobby the day after we arrived. Seliel had spent quite a bit of time with us, monitoring everyone's progress. Despite the part of me that wished she had stayed home, I was grateful for the company when I stayed in the room for hours. Most of my friends weren't able to hold out for as long as I did.

     Seliel stood up to come and stand beside me. "Harumi is going to make it.," she said confidently.

     I admired that about her. She would make a wild assumption based of her own ridiculous conclusions and assert it like it was a fact. From what I had gathered about her, Seliel seemed to have the whole world figured out. She was confident, barely ever faltering, and constantly cheering others on. Right now, with the way all of us were feeling, all of us needed a little Seliel in our lives.

     "I-I just can't help but think this is our fault. We didn't give her a second chance in time. I'm supposed to be the rock of the team. The solid, decision-making one. I was too blinded by the past to see what was really going on." I bit my lip. "She just wanted someone who would love her."

     "I think you all were blinded by the past." Seliel said, trying to be sympathetic, but only making her words sting with her trademark brutal honesty. "But hey, the best thing about the past is that it isn't what's going on now. You can always change your point of view."

     "She doesn't have anything left now. And she won't listen to us when we beg her to come back." I clenched my fists, looking at Harumi. She already appeared practically dead. We had all sat in the chair next to her bed, pleading for her to come back to consciousness. Ever since the news of Morro's death, she had been unchanging as a stone. Even when she did wake up, she was stuck in some sort of half-awake state that made her seem like some Hypnobrai had come in and put her under hypnosis.

     Seliel led me to the chair she used to be sitting in, which gave a really good view of both of the room's patients. Lloyd's restraints had been loosened since he didn't thrash around like Harumi did. He had only woken up twice since the attack, the first time being three days after Harumi. He, just like Harumi, started spouting questions in a barely audible voice, and the doctors immediately shushed him. They said it was too early for him to be conscious; that if they sedated him, he would continue to recover faster.

     Lloyd refused to comply with any 'drink this sedative' commands until he knew about what happened to Harumi. I thought it was odd for him to ask about Harumi and Harumi alone, but then he told us what had really happened.

     Right as the effects of the sedative dragged him under, he told us she died for him, or was at least willing to.

     None of us had known what to say. By the time we could comprehend what that meant, Lloyd was already fast asleep, far away from the questions of the world.

     The second time Lloyd roused was only yesterday, and by that time color had returned to his skin. It was impossible to ignore the lumps of bandages across his chest, but he already looked way better than Harumi ever had. He had stayed awake for around five hours. It was enough time for him to gain all the information he needed to retreat into silence.

      We were forced to tell him about the state we found him in. The ground had been scarlet with his blood. We had thought Lloyd was dead, yet somehow his heart still kept beating. Across from his limp body, Morro had taken a sword through his heart for Harumi. Lloyd paled with each description, but when we got to Morro he starting mumbling angry things.

     "This is all my fault." He had said, burying his face in his bandaged hands. "I should have known I couldn't take on the Overlord alone. He grabbed me in the dark, and I thought I could take him." Lloyd had groaned loudly with the words, making the doctors immediately shoot us all dirty looks.

     "It's no one's fault, Lloyd." Kai shot forward almost immediately. "Morro chose this path because..."

     "He loved her." Skylor put her hand on Lloyd's other arm, offering what comfort she could. Skylor had shown up to the hospital only hours after she got the news and had stayed by Kai's side the entire time since. She and Kai locked eyes for a moment, and I knew that they understood the price of unconditional love. It was in their glance that I realized what true love was.

     We had all known of Morro's affection for Harumi; he wasn't exactly discreet about it. But, in that moment I had known that love was more than a fleeting affection. Morro had sacrificed himself for her because he would rather give up everything than let her die.

     Lloyd looked at all of us, tears gathering in his watery eyes. "She's going to be broken by this. How could he do this to her?"

     "How could he not?" Zane stepped forward, crouching down by Skylor and placing his hand on Lloyd's arm. Nya kneeled by her brother, with Jay slowly using the crutches to lower himself beside his wife. PIXAL bent down beside Zane, and I knelt by the end of the bed with Seliel.

     "This was his greatest gift to her."

     Lloyd had finally let the tears fall, and we all cried with him. Morro's death had hurt all of us. I had never realized how much we had taken him for granted until he was finally gone. He had never been unkind to our sourness, constantly doing what he could to help Harumi and us finally reconcile. He had given his mission everything he had, and now it was too late for him to see the fruits of his goodness.

     In the end, we were left with Harumi, the one girl he gave his everything for. I knew then that helping her recover wasn't just our responsibility to Ninjago because of the prophecy, but it was our responsibility to Morro and his memory.

     It was finally time for us all to put the past behind us.

     It was Lloyd who first wiped his eyes and asked. "So, what do we do now?"

     "We keep going." Kai jumped in, his fiery aura returning from the clouds of grief. "Morro did everything he could to keep Harumi alive. We need to be there for her when she wakes up again. We need to be better than we were to her. She's done more than enough to prove she's not evil anymore. It's time we acknowledge that. We also need to keep training, so that when the Overlord strikes again, we'll be ready to take him down."

     Everyone nodded, their eyes still misty. I was proud of Lloyd, who was visibly shaken by everything he was told, but agreed to try his hardest to not let the event break him. Even when Lloyd sunk into slumber soon after the news, he still seemed to be pushing his recovery. Even now, watching his chest rise and fall, I could sense his fighting spirit trying to heal faster. The loss was going to fuel him, not tear him down.

     However, when I looked at Harumi, all I could see was a dying soul.

     "How can we be there for her?" I whispered, burying my head in my hands. "We've tried to call her back, but she never listens."

     Seliel immediately started yanking the chair towards Harumi's bed, which nearly made me fall out of it.

     "WHAT IN THE LIVING NINJAGO—"

     "Okie dokie, Mr. Grieving, let's get you in the right mindset." Seliel continued to pull at the chair until I stood up and let her drag it over to Harumi. I plopped back into the chair, which was now pulled so close to the bed that I could see every angle of Harumi's face. The light hit her face, illuminating tear stains I never noticed before.

     Seliel gently picked up one of my hands and placed it on Harumi's.

     "What are you doing?" I hissed, somehow both losing my voice and finding it in the same moment.

     "What does she need to hear?" Was Seliel's only question.

     I sighed, letting my attention wander to how cold and lifeless Harumi's hand was. It evoked a memory in me, a memory so strong I suddenly knew how to relate. I knew what to say.

     "Loss is the hardest thing in the world." My voice dropped to a barely audible level. Seliel tried to hold in a snort of laughter at my words, but miserably failed. I shot her my dirtiest look and continued. "It feels like it is ripping everything you know apart. I know that feeling. When my mother died, I felt like my whole life had shattered. When I thought we'd lost Zane, I could barely think straight. But life taught me an important lesson. No matter how it shatters us, no matter how much we think we can't go on, we can. We can make it through the fog. We can brave the storm. We just have to keep fighting.

     "I need you to keep fighting. We know how you are feeling, and we know it's hard. You just have to keep shoving yourself forward, because if you let the present blind you, the future is just going to get worse."

     Seliel groaned when I finished. "That's what you want to say?"

     "Yes." Why was she being so difficult? I thought my pep talk was pretty good, and it was hard to say. It wasn't every day I let myself dwell on my mother's death.

     "Agh, remind me to never get you near someone who needs to be comforted." Seliel pulled up another chair and plopped down next to me. She grinned after shooing my hand away from Harumi's. "Watch the master."

     Seliel grabbed Harumi's hand in her own and leaned close to it. I suddenly wondered if Seliel was really dense enough to think Harumi could hear through her hand.

     "Listen to me." Seliel whispered, her voice suddenly thickening with a tone that made me wonder how much about her I didn't know. "Like Rocky Boy said, loss is hard. It's the hardest thing in the world. But the most important thing to know is that you aren't alone. We're waiting for you at the end of the fog. Take your time, process, accept the loss in yourself. We're not going to impose any restrictions or limitations. We're not going to force you to pretend it didn't happen. If you want to stay in this bed for the next five years, go ahead. Just know we'll be waiting for you at the end of it. We're here for you. You are not alone."

     Seliel's words were rushed, like she was trying to whisper a pep-talk to a crying kid. It didn't stop the words from being powerful.

     You are not alone.

     I had thought I was alone when my mother died. My father seemingly didn't care, and my old friends became too distant to talk to. The hurt of thinking there was no one who understood me drove me to climb, to push myself. Maybe if I faced enough challenges, the aches in my heart would fade behind the aching of my body. It was when Master Wu came into my life that I realized I wasn't alone. There were people out there who cared about me and what I was going through.

     Harumi needed the same thing I did. She needed a friend.

     "You are not alone." I whispered, making Seliel smile.

     Together, we chanted the same thing over and over, until the doctors forced us away so they could run diagnostics. I had realized what my friends and I had to do to keep Harumi going. We had to remind her that she was not alone. That we didn't want her to come back for the prophecy, to honor Morro, or for any other reason. We wanted her back for her.

     Morro died for Harumi, and he was good all the way up to the end.

     Why would he die for someone who was a lying, manipulative villain?

     The short answer was that he wouldn't. Harumi really had changed. And it was up to us to reconcile with her once again.

>(<>)<

I spent the next few days sitting by Harumi's bedside, telling her that she was not alone. Sometimes the other Ninja would join me, but they all got restless easily. I think it was the guilt in Morro's death that compelled me to stay and talk to her. I ended up saying way more than, "You are not alone; we are here for you."

     I told her about my mother. I told her about my friends. I told her about our adventures after she had died. I was sure she didn't hear a word of it, but it felt nice to cover up the thick silence with fond memories. It felt even better when Lloyd's voice replied, "Yeah, I loved that time too. Remember the League of Jay? That whole event was hilarious."

     I turned to find his green eyes open, filled with mirth. He was laying on his side, his gaze not fixed on me, but the white-haired girl behind me. I was about to call in the doctors when he said, "Do you think she's going to be okay?"

     Lloyd sounded so concerned (and guilty for some reason) I suddenly wondered if his previous feelings for Harumi had returned.

     "I don't know."

     "She must be so sad, so scared. I can't even imagine what she's going through. I could barely keep it together when Zane died, and I didn't even know him as well as I do now." He looked at me, his whole posture wilting. "I keep fighting because I need to come back to you all. But what does she have to come back to now?"

     "She has us." Somehow, my words rang true.

     Lloyd paused, then slowly nodded. "Then I'll keep fighting for her."

     The nurse came in after that to check on Lloyd, then freaked out when she saw he was awake.

     Lloyd's revivals became more and more frequent as each day passed. He would wake up once or twice a day and push his recovery as hard as he could. With permission from the doctors, he started working his arms again, lifting small weights to build his back muscles. When he wasn't attempting to train, he was reading. Long before Harumi and Morro had ever come into the picture, Lloyd had complained that his time as a Ninja had shorted him an education. Since he had nothing to do but sit around, he wanted to try to catch up on school.

     It became a lot more entertaining to sit in the room with him and Harumi. Kai and Skylor would spend hours in there debating the details of their wedding. Lloyd would help the best he could. The rest of us would either spend time talking to each other or attempting to play board games. The hospital room lost its atmosphere of gloom and took on one of hope. I could tell Lloyd was still shaken by what happened, but he continued to face each day with a forced smile. He stayed true to his promise to not let the event break him.

     The most surprising thing was when Lloyd would talk to Harumi when none of us were there. When she would enter her half-awake states, he would spend the whole time jabbering about some topic or another. Seliel said she had stood outside the door and heard something about a ridiculous predicament I had gotten myself into a couple months ago. She laughed and sauntered away before I could shove her for being inconsiderate.

     Then, a miracle happened. The doctor who had once told me Harumi was dying, Geri, came up and informed me Harumi would be ready to get out of bed within a few hours. The wound in her chest was healing quite well and she would be able to move around in a wheelchair soon. I was shocked. Harumi didn't seem any better on the outside, but perhaps she was taking our chants to heart.

     Lloyd was in a wheelchair only a couple days after Harumi. The doctors didn't want him using his legs or torso too much in case he ripped any stitches or overused any muscles. Lloyd, despite being an adult, used the wheelchair like a child. While Harumi would spend her days looking at the city through the hospital's room's window, Lloyd had the others take him outside and see who could push him the fastest.

     It was nice to see the others have fun again. Nya's side had fully recovered, so she was having the time of her life. Jay's foot still had a slight limp, and he had lost sight in his right eye. The doctors reassured him that the limp would go away soon. Jay had taken to wearing an eyepatch, something he adored doing. Kai and Zane's wounds were quite minor, so they were fine early on. The only bad injury I had was a gash across my shoulders, but that had healed into a scar quite a while back. It was hard to keep track of time when each day seemed like an endless held breath for Lloyd or Harumi to wake up.

     I often stayed in the room with Harumi and watched as squeals of laughter echoed from the courtyard below. She didn't talk to anyone and flinched whenever a breeze came through the window. I ended up closing it.

     By the time Harumi was out of the wheelchair, I realized it felt weird thinking of the times she wasn't in our lives. While she still didn't talk to anyone, I could tell she paid attention to our daily board game antics and listened to our conversations. It was hard at first to ignore the instinct to shush everyone so she wouldn't overhear us, but after a while, I felt strangely comfortable with talking about basically anything while she was around.

     We offered several times for her to join us, but she always shook her head. Lloyd told me she would spend most of her time staring at her hands, then out at the city beyond.

     "I think she's blaming herself." He said one day. "She won't talk to me. We need to discuss what happened at some point, but I don't feel like it's the right time yet. What if I open my mouth, and she just like dies on the spot or something?"

    "She's not going to die on the spot, Lloyd."

     "Things must be so hard for her though. The last time she lost someone she loved was the time when she vowed to—she promised me no betrayals, so don't even start on the lecturing." Lloyd massaged his forehead, cutting off my words. "How can we be there for her if she won't let us?"

     I paused, trying to understand why Lloyd was so guilty about all of this. It made me wonder if he was hiding something from us, an essential piece of information that he was too scared to share.

     "We've done everything we could. And as for you," I pointed to his heart, "I think it's time you tell her the truth, whatever that may be."

     Lloyd flushed, looking everywhere but my face. "I'll find the right time to tell her everything, but now is not that time."

     "Until then, just do your best for her." I replied.

     Whenever I thought about Harumi, I couldn't feel angry. Even when I thought about her breaking Lloyd's heart and taking over the city, it was all a very distant memory. Watching her recover, hearing about the sacrifice she made, it had helped me understand her better. I couldn't hate Harumi anymore, and I was sure the rest of us felt the same way. I was done letting the past blind my present.

     Everything seemed to be getting better. Lloyd was allowed out of his wheelchair as long as he didn't participate in any city-saving exercises for a few more weeks, and we were all able to leave the hospital for good. Harumi came with us, spending most of her time in solitude. Life went back to a new normal on the Bounty.

     Everything seemed to be getting better, that is, until we found the letter.

     The letter that ripped apart every scenario we had envisioned about the events of Harumi's sacrifice.

     The letter Morro had written before his death.

     The letter that told Harumi he knew he was going to die.