I didn't sleep the rest of the night. I paced the monastery endlessly, so completely and entirely heartbroken. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have done what I did to Celine? It broke me to know that I had hurt her the way that I did. But what could I do to make it right?

Six AM finally rolled around and I found myself sitting dejectedly in the kitchen with a lukewarm cup of coffee. My eyes were itchy and burning and I didn't need a mirror to tell me they were bloodshot. Kai and Lloyd eventually stumbled in, Lloyd with a duffle bag in tow.

"Wow. You look awful," Kai commented.

I huffed, "thanks for noticing." My gaze flicked to Lloyd, "You're leaving too?"

Lloyd sheepishly glanced down, then around the room. "Yeah... I guess I am. Have you seen Celine? I- I wanted to talk to her before I left."

My gaze dropped to the table in front of me, feeling that now-familiar stab in my chest. "She's... she's not here anymore."

Lloyd studied me, confused, "what do you mean?"

Sighing, I buried my head in my hands, trying to hide the tears I felt welling. "She's gone. She left last night. It's my fault," I murmured.

"What do you mean?" Kai questioned. "What did you do?"

I dropped my hands and looked back up at Lloyd, "You were right. I shouldn't have gone back."

Lloyd sighed and walked over. Sitting down next to me, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and leaned against me.

"I'm sorry," was all he said. He didn't say 'I told you so,' or 'I knew this would happen,' or anything like that. He just sat with me. Kai continued to stare at us, befuddled.

"Uh, wanna explain what you mean?"

"You remember how I took the Storm Amulet to Shintaro? That fake one, anyway?" I prompted.

"Oh." Kai was silent for a second, "Yeah, I guess she didn't take that too well, did she?"

"Nope," I responded. "Lloyd warned me. He told me it wouldn't end well for either of us. And now here we are." I spread my hands out, "she's gone, I guess Lloyd's leaving." Dejected, I slouched onto the countertop once more. "Maybe if I hadn't been so foolish and taken it there, even if I thought what I was doing was right, we would have caught on that it was a fake amulet and been able to stop Kalmaar sooner. And maybe... maybe Nya would still be here," I finished softly, my voice catching.

"Don't say that Cole," Kai spoke softly. "There's nothing more any of us could have done. She made the choice to- to do what she did..."

"What's going on in here?" Master Wu stepped into the kitchen, his staff in hand. Zane, Pixal, and Jay trailed him silently, stifling yawns. "Where's Celine?"

I let my face fall into my hands again, unwilling to answer for my sins.

"She's gone," Kai answered simply. "She ran away last night. She's not here anymore."

"And- I'm leaving too," Lloyd stated as he picked his duffel bag up again. "I'm- I'm sorry, Uncle." With that, Lloyd walked out without another word. He never looked back.

"This is a most unfortunate situation we have found ourselves in," Master Wu mused. 

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

I woke up freezing cold. I pulled the thin blankets up to my neck, as I huddled beneath the covers, not wishing to enter reality quite yet.

I heard Skylor in the kitchen knocking a few pans together as she made herself breakfast. Curling up in a ball, I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head.

"Good morning sleepy head," Skylor greeted cheerily as she poked her head into the living room.

I moaned a reply and wriggled deeper into the make-shift bed on the living room floor. Skylor promptly walked over and sat down on the bed, "I know you aren't feeling it right now, but I could use your help in the noodle shop today. Work will help take your mind off of things. Besides, you promised to help me."

I twisted back over and faced Skylor, scowling.

"I made you coffee," she offered.

I sighed before crawling out of bed and throwing on a t-shirt and jeans and heading out to the kitchen. I sank down onto a bar stool at the kitchen table as Skylor poured me coffee.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked, setting the mug down in front of me.

"Tired," I mumbled as I took a swig of the warm liquid. "Less so, now."

"I know it's going to take you a few days to adjust, and I want to make sure you're doing okay mentally, but I could really use your help at work today," Skylor began, sitting down with her own cup of coffee.

"I don't mind working, but I feel just awful for leaving," I lamented, swirling the coffee in my mug.

As Skylor and I drank our coffee, my phone suddenly buzzed on the counter. We both just stared at it as Cole's contact popped up. Slowly, I reached out and declined the call. Skylor shot me an inquisitive look, but made no comment towards my actions.

I drained my mug and stood up. "I'll clean up if you still need to get ready for work. The noodle shop won't run itself."

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

I dropped the phone, dejected.

"Well?" Kai pressed.

"She declined it," I answered solemnly.

"I'm gonna try." Kai whipped out his phone, but I reached out to lower his phone before he could bring it up.

"No. Let it go. I don't want to push her more than I already have. It's my fault she left, and I have to deal with the consequences. It's okay."