I took a deep breath and stared at myself in the mirror, hands braced on the bathroom sink. My fingers grazed the handle of the knife in my belt, checking its position. I looked into the reflection, I knew what I needed to do. I pulled my mask down and stuffed my hair up into the hood. I carefully tip-toed out of the bathroom to Skylor's bedroom. Moving without a sound, I grabbed the light katana she always kept under her bed, and slipped from the room and to the fire escape at the far end of the apartment. Cautiously shoving the window open, I slunk out onto the ladder. After securing the window, I ascended the ladder to the roof.

When it had become clear that I could not evade the nightmares that wormed their way into my mind at night, I gave up on sleep. There were more important things to do, like fight crime.

It seemed that ever since Nya's sacrifice, the ninja's crime watch had diminished bit by bit until it was virtually non-existent. Living just outside Lower Ninjago City, with its crime-filled streets, it was hard not to hear the constant noise of breaking glass, gunshots, and screams of assaulted citizens. Finally, on night two of sitting up not sleeping, I finally ventured out into the darkness of the city, thus beginning my undercover crime-fighting spree.

Perching on the edge of the roof, I gazed out over the city beneath me. I stared up at the moon, partly hidden by clouds, listening to the noises of the city below. Without warning, I was drowning in a memory.

I sat on a different roof, but I was no longer alone.

"I'll always be here for you," a voice spoke. Turning, the memory swallowed me whole. Next to me on the roof was Nya.

"You've helped so much. I don't know what the resistance would have been without you."

"Don't flatter me." My lips seemed to speak on their own. I was no longer in control.

"No, seriously. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Thanks," I bumped my shoulder into Nya's.

"If you ever need anything, I'm just a call away. Anything for a sister in need."

"Well, I appreciate it," I answered.

The memory faded and I was once again, alone on the roof.

"Well, you're not here anymore. You lied, just like everyone else. Now I'm alone again. I should have known it was too good to last."

They're not the only ones who left.

I held my head against my own conscience, internally begging it to fall silent.

You left too. You left him after all that time.

"Shut up," I spoke aloud.

If anything, you abandoned him. He confessed, and you left him because you couldn't handle it. Now you're all alone and it's your own fault.

"Shut up!" I screamed. Tears trickled down my face. "It's not just my fault. They left me first," I sobbed. I allowed myself to cry for a few minutes in the solitude of the rooftop.

The breaking of glass somewhere below snapped my attention to the present. I composed myself quickly and honed in my hearing, anxious to hear again what was happening below. A scream floated up from the streets. I found my target.

I slipped down from the roof, sliding down the drainpipes. I landed silently in the alley, listening for the scuffle, feeling for the vibrations of footsteps. There again, in the back of the alley. I crept deeper into the alley. A girl, a little younger than me, was cornered by two big, masked men. She cried out for help, clutching a bag to her chest.

"Hey!" I called, grabbing the men's attention. "Pick on someone your own size."

The men turned towards me, smirking.

"What are you gonna do?" spoke one, sizing me up. "You're no bigger than her," he gestured towards the girl with the baseball bat he held.

"Yeah," the other piped up, "you're no bigger than a... a... a cat!"

The first guy backhanded the second, "Shut your trap, Joe."

This should be easy. I unsheathed the katana and faced the men, "Bring it on boys."

"We're not boys, we're men!" the second man spoke again, his voice cracking at the end.

The first man groaned, "I told you to can it!"

A small scuffle ensued, but I defeated the men quickly. The oafs clearly hadn't ever fought anyone before and relied purely on their size to scare away any who might challenge them. I turned to the girl, who was still huddled in the corner, but on her phone.

"Yes officer, someone just knocked them out. Yes, I'm still in the alley. Thank you." Shakily, she lowered the phone from her ear and looked up at me.

I walked over and knelt in front of her, "Are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?"

"No, I'm okay."

"Are the cops on their way?"

"Yeah. Thanks for saving me, by the way. What's your name?"

I hesitated before answering, "I don't have one."

"Come on, everyone's got a name," she smiled brightly.

"Not me." The whirring of sirens sounded from the streets along with the screeching of tires as the cars halted in front of the alley.

"That's my cue." Without another word, I hauled myself up a fire escape ladder and scrambled out of sight.

Once again on the roof, I watched as a police officer approached the girl, talking with her for a moment before escorting her towards a car, with three other officers dragging the masked men towards a police van. I followed along the rooftops for a moment, curiosity overcoming me. Would he come?

I didn't have to wait long for an answer. The familiar drone of the Earth Driller drew my attention again to the streets beneath me. Something flipped inside me as I watched the Master of Earth step out of the vehicle and make his way towards the police officers. As I watched them talk, my chest stabbed with pain. I shouldn't have left, not after what he's done for me. But I couldn't, not now, not after what I did to him. He could never forgive me, could he? It had only been a few weeks since I ran away from the monastery, but I never knew how hard it would be to leave him. One of the officers pointed up, and Cole's head tilted upwards towards the roof I was standing on. Gasping sharply, I stumbled back, anxious to stay out of sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sally, what did you say the person looked like that helped you?" I turned again to the girl leaning against the police car.

"She was wearing all black and ninja hood. She wouldn't tell me her name. And get this, I never heard her walk up. She seemed to walk like a ghost, without a sound."

"Celine," I breathed.

"Did you say something?" the police officer questioned.

"Nothing. Just thinking aloud," I laughed sheepishly. I gazed up again to the rooftop where the figure had stood only moments before.

I parked my Earth Driller in the hanger bay of the monastery and hopped out only to be greeted by Zane.

"Ah! Geez man, you gotta let me know if you're gonna be right there."

"My apologies," Zane spoke, his voice at a monotone drone, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," I brushed off, and we began to walk up to the living quarters of the monastery.

"What was the issue you responded to?" Zane inquired.

"Just a mugging. Or rather, it would have been a mugging. By the time I got there, the two thugs were knocked out and the girl they were attempting to hurt was safe," I explained.

Zane stopped. "Someone else got there first?"

"Yep. I talked with Sally, the girl who was almost mugged. She said the person, a girl, who saved her was dressed all in black and wore a mask over her face and refused to reveal her name. Apparently she was also deadly silent."

"You don't think..." Zane began.

"I do. I'm positive it was her. I caught a glimpse of whoever it was on the roof of a nearby building, but only for a second before she disappeared. But I think it was her. I mean, who else would it be?"

We reached the monastery and were greeted by Pixal at the top of the stairs, "You're back Cole," she began, "What happened?"

"Just an attempted mugging. It was already taken care of by the time I got there."

"By whom?" she questioned.

I sighed heavily, "I think it was Celine."

She gasped in surprise, "Really? What makes you say that?"

"I talked with the girl who was almost mugged and she said that whoever saved her was dressed all in black and wearing a ninja mask. She refused to say her name and was apparently absolutely silent. Look, I really don't wanna talk about it."

I pushed past a confused Pixal and trudged to my room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After several more small incidents, I decided to call it a night and head back to the apartment. I slipped into the apartment window and closed it quietly. As I was beginning to straighten up, I froze.

"I know you're here," I spoke into the darkness.

A light flicked on across the room. Skylor stood in a sweatshirt and shorts, arms crossed, clearly annoyed, "And what were you doing?"

"Nothing," I lied, forcing my face to go blank.

"What's up with the mask and sword?" Skylor gestured towards my gear, which I had completely forgotten about.

"Just because?" I lied, backing away towards the bathroom.

Skylor jumped in front of me, "Explain, now."

I sighed in defeat, "I couldn't help myself. I was just doing a little crime fighting. You know, stopping some muggings, a few robberies, nothing huge."

"Uh huh," Skylor answered, not satisfied.

"Really, that's all I did. I don't know why it's such a big deal," I wiggled past her into the bathroom.

"Did you see him?" She called after me.

I stopped in my tracks, my heart skipped a beat. "Who?" I faked composure.

"You know who I mean," Skylor pressed gently.

I inhaled deeply. "Yes."

"Did it hurt?"

I turned back towards Skylor, my eyes moist, "More than I could have imagined."