***A couple things! First, there is no song for this chapter. You'll find out why later. Second, this is a really angsty chapter. That's mostly due to Nya's POV. She recounts events in the past that made her who she is today. So, if you're in a depressed mood, maybe don't read her POV yet :) ***

***(Jay's POV; no song for this chapter)***

I can barely keep my eyes open. We've been in the hospital waiting room for hours, worrying, hoping, praying. Skylor has to be okay. Our team is already divided enough. I don't know if we can take a blow so close to home. We lost Wu. If we lose Skylor, we lose Kai. I think everything would go downhill from there.

I'm exhausted from sorrow. I watch Nya worriedly pace the floor, approaching the attendant every five minutes. She's asking whether we can see Skylor or not. I know the bored employee will respond as always: "Not until her condition is stable. Only family is allowed in until then."

How did Kai get in with her?

At some point, I can't resist any longer and drift off to sleep. It's a fitful rest of anxious nightmares. Sometimes, the team crumbles in them. Other times, I learn Wu is dead. My sleep continues like this for who knows how long.

My eyes open to Nya shaking my good shoulder. "Wake up, Jay. We can visit her now."

I absorb the care in her eyes and am glad that Nya doesn't have to be part of my nightmares. I might fear losing her, but not her leaving me. Not like I fear Wu leaving, or Kai...or my mom.

I shudder and stand up, reaching for Nya's hand. She takes it at first, then releases it. An incline of her head reminds me that Lloyd's with us.

"Wake up, Lloyd," Nya murmurs.

He shakes his head, then snaps to attention. "Skylor! Where is – is she – "

"We can go visit her now," promises Nya.

Lloyd rubs the sleep out of his eyes and follows us down the hall. It takes a long while, but we finally make it to room 479.

Nya inhales a steadying breath, then knocks.

"Enter." Kai's voice is subdued.

"Hey," I greet, pushing open the door gently.

Kai looks over with tired eyes. He's holding Skylor's hand, trembling.

"What happened?" Lloyd gently questions.

Kai's attention returns to Skylor. "She's a fighter. I guess, since she has opposite elemental powers, she was able to counteract a lot of negative withdrawals."

Nya fills in the blanks. "Like fire and water?"

"Yeah. What really got her was the power of mind." He chokes out, "It's attacking her brain."

I gasp. "But – how is she still alive?"

Brushing a few strands of hair from her face, he says, "She's in a coma. We're waiting on results from some scans, but it looks like right before her mind began to suffer, her powers induced her into some protective state. She's entirely unconscious to avoid damage." He swallows. "Or at least, to avoid serious damage."

"Kai," Nya whispers sympathetically. She walks to him and enfolds him in her arms.

Tears wet his cheeks as soon as Nya reaches him. "They said only family could come in, but they didn't understand that I'm the only family she's got."

"She's got us," Lloyd chimes in.

Kai ignores him. "Her mom died when she was a little girl. Her father is corrupt." He bites out that last word. "And she could be dying here alone without me."

"But you are here," Nya soothes. "And she's not dying."

His bleak eyes don't stray from Skylor's face. "You don't know that."

"Um, how exactly did you get the doctors to let you in here?" I pipe up.

"I said we were engaged. I guess it's a good thing Skylor's wearing that ring I bought for her birthday."

"Like in While You Were Sleeping?" I ask. I mean, seriously? Am I supposed to believe that some kind nurse heard his plea for marriage and decided to let Kai in?

He shrugs. "I never watched that show. I never did a lot of things with Skylor. She wanted so badly to spend the week on her father's old island this summer, just to remember her childhood better. And to think, I promised her I would take her. I promised." He shakes his head, weeping miserably. "Why does it always have to end like this? First my parents, and now this. Do I have to lose everyone I love?"

"Don't you love me, Kai?" Nya asks, rubbing his arm.

"Of course. And that's just the problem." His lamenting overtakes him for a moment before he sobers. "I'm losing everyone, Nya, and that means I might lose you, too."

"Aww, Kai," she comforts.

I don't know whether Kai will kill me or hug me for joining him at Skylor's side, but I do anyway.

"We're going to save her," I promise. "The team and I – we're going to discover Harumi and her team's agenda so we can reverse this. Skylor will get well."

"You and the team need to do that," Kai agrees. "But me? My place is at her side." He looks up to address me with serious eyes. "Take care of my baby sister."

I sit here astonished. Kai doesn't like me, at least not when I'm together with Nya. Why would he do this?

I guess his love for Skylor must be greater than his dislike for me.

"Kai, you can't stay here without the team," Lloyd reasons. "The Sons of Garmadon would pick you off, since you'd be such an easy target."

Kai shrugs. "My power is fire. If it's taken, I won't suffer much."

"That's not the point," Lloyd frowns. "If your power is stolen, the Sons of Garmadon become more powerful. We have to protect not just ourselves, but the other elemental masters."

"Skylor needs me. I'm not leaving."

"But Kai – "

"That's enough, Lloyd. You may be the leader, but that doesn't mean I have to listen." His sorrow is beginning to turn to anger. Lloyd needs to take it down a notch.

I can't blame Kai. I would do the same thing if Nya were in this position.

I guess that's why Lloyd is the leader.

"Do you need anything to eat, Kai? I can run down to the cafeteria for you," I offer.

"I don't know. I'm not sure I can eat right now."

Nya rises. "Jay and I will still get you something, just in case." She eyes Lloyd. "Stay here so Kai isn't alone." She wraps her arms around her brother one more time. "We're going to fix this. You'll see."

As soon as the door is closed behind us, Nya snatches my hand.

"You don't like being in there, do you?" I ask.

"I can tolerate hospitals, but I can't do patients in critical condition. There are too many memories associated with that."

"Your parents?"

"Yeah. Do you – do you know how they died?"

I shake my head. "No. Kai never really wanted to tell me."

She says nothing and begins walking. Finally, she quietly states, "Kai doesn't really know what happened. He got a head injury from the accident."

"I'm listening. Do you need to sit down? Or get a drink or something first?" A little sugar always does me good when I'm upset.

"Let's go sit in the cafeteria." She pulls me toward the room. "I have a few dollars on me. Do you want a soda?"

Heaven knows I could use one. "Yes, please."

We pay for our beverages and take a seat at a table for two. I inhale the scents of vegetable soup, bread, and something deliciously sweet. It makes me realize I haven't eaten yet.

My nightmare flashes across my mind: There's so much drama and so little leadership, our team is falling apart.

Nya pops the tab on her soda and inhales. "My parents died when I was twelve. Kai was fourteen. You know how he pretends to be a lot older than me, though. When we moved here, the authorities couldn't know he was too young to be my guardian. I guess working with my dad gave Kai enough bulk to make his lie believable."

I nod, no stranger to Kai and Nya's farce. Even though Kai is nearly nineteen, he still hasn't confessed. I guess he'd probably get in a lot of trouble if someone but the team learned the truth.

Nya swallows. "What you don't know, though, is that Kai and I were with my parents when the accident happened."

***(Nya's POV)***

Jay looks at me, surprise and concern emanating from his face. I shift my gaze to the table. I won't be able to tell my story if he keeps looking at me like that. There'll be too many tears.

"You don't have to continue, if you don't want to," Jay whispers, placing his hand on mine.

I shake my head in defiance. "No. This is something I need to let out." I close my eyes, letting the painful memories I'd tried so hard to bury finally surface.

"We were in the car," I start. "All four of us, together. It was raining. It was dark. It was the perfect night to go to the movies, and that's exactly where we were headed."

Since I've kept the whole scene under lockdown in my mind, everything seems as fresh as day. I can see my mom's face – her beautiful blue eyes and long, dark hair. Her smile and comforting voice. I can smell her natural scent – I'm allergic to perfume, and even though I take medication to help avoid negative reactions, my mom never put me in a dangerous position.

And then there was my dad. He was always our rock, our voice of reason. The one who swore to protect our family, no matter the costs. Back then, I really had no desire to protect myself because I knew my dad would do it. I've changed.

"I was so excited to finally have my family all together. I had big news for them," I continue. "Kai's best friend, and my longtime crush, had asked me to be his girlfriend. I just knew they would be ecstatic. All except for Kai, that is. I knew he wouldn't be happy.

"Well, I was right. He got worked up about how I couldn't just steal his best friend. Kai asked, 'What happens when you two break up? Do I have to cut ties with him, too?'

"My mom jumped to my rescue, just like I thought she would. She told Kai he couldn't simply discount my feelings, and that maybe there was some sort of agreement all three of us could work out if things went south. Kai wasn't having it, though. He was so angry, he began crying.

"Then, my dad joined the conversation. Unlike Kai and my mom, though, he didn't act how I expected." Instead of blocking my father's tense features, I remember the way his forehead furrowed. The fire in his eyes. In his words. At me.

"He said, 'Nya, just let it go. I'm sure your feelings will fade with time. It's not worth botching Kai's friendship.'

"I got so mad, more than anyone has a right to be for something stupid like that. I told my dad he was wrong, that I'd liked Kai's friend for months at that point. I told him he didn't know a thing about love. And I was so sure I was right." I feel tears forming in my eyes, and I muster the courage to look at Jay. "I hate the little girl who had a fit in that car. She killed my parents. I'm just glad she died that day, too."

"Nya," Jay conciliates. I know he's going to tell me I'm wrong to feel that way, but I'm not in the mood to hear it.

Without letting him finish, I press on with the horror story. "A hush came over the car. I knew I'd overstepped my boundaries. I was about to apologize when my dad spoke up.

"'Nya,' he told me, 'if that's what you think, you don't know me at all. I love you.'

"That enraged me. What right did he have to say he loved me? He was crushing me, keeping me from my dreams. Keeping me from the love of my life, as I thought. I was so stupid." I rub hot tears from my cheeks. "That's when I said it. The one thing I will always regret saying." I sit, frozen to my spot, as memories collide with emotions. My foolish words. The oncoming headlights. My dad swerving, my mom screaming, my brother gasping. And me, that awful girl, still thinking she was right. She didn't even know what was happening.

"Nya, are you okay?" Jay settles me. I'm brought back to the present.

I avoid his question. "I said to my dad, 'I hate you.' And because he was so distracted by our conversation, those were some of the last words he ever heard from me.

"He hadn't been watching the road. We'd drifted into the other lane, and there was a semi-truck coming. He blared his horn at us. My dad got over just in time, or we all would have been gone." I swallow. "Unfortunately, the road was too slippery. The car hydroplaned, and we rammed into a guardrail. My mom's side of the vehicle was crushed, and Kai was badly injured." I can hear my dad's anguished cry, yelling my mother's name. I rest my head on the table, overwhelmed.

Jay leans close to me. "Nya, sit up for a moment. Take a drink of your soda." I obey, and he lifts the drink to my lips.

Once I've had a sip, I gently push him away. "We were on the side of a hill, but the front of the vehicle caught on the guardrail, suspending us. If we would've rolled down, I don't know that any of us would be left.

"As soon as I recovered from the shock, I started crying for my dad. 'Daddy! Daddy, help!' I mewled. I was so pitiful stuck in the back of that car, even though I was only left with a few bruises and eventual whiplash.

"And then I heard his voice: 'Nya, baby, it's okay. You've got to get out of here.'

"I unbuckled myself, and my door opened just like always. It was a small drop to the wet grass. I jumped. And that's when I heard Kai, screaming bloody murder. Maybe that's what it was – bloody murder. I ran around to his side, trying to wrench his door open. It wouldn't budge. I wasn't strong enough. And whenever I'd yank at the door handle, the car would shake.

"I must've still been able to think somewhat clearly, because I ran around to my side, carefully climbed back in the car, and pulled Kai out my door. His right leg was bleeding profusely, and his right arm hung at a weird angle. I left him in the grass and pulled open my dad's door.

"He was sitting there next to my mom, wedged in the car. I guess when we slammed into the guardrail, the entire front end of the car was crushed.

"He asked us if we were all right, and all I could do was nod in response. My eyes were fixed on my mother. 'Dad,' I gasped, 'is she okay?'

"'I hope she's better than okay. I hope she's someplace wonderful.' That was his answer. I looked at him to see he'd been crying. My mother was gone.

"We couldn't get my dad out of the car. I was too weak, he was too trapped, and Kai couldn't even walk. But sirens sounded in the distance, so I knew help was coming. I went and sat beside Kai, who was out of his head. He kept mumbling, 'Nya, no. You killed them. No, Nya, no.'" Shame rises up in me, a demon I could only suppress as long as my memories were safely tucked away.

"You didn't kill them," Jay soothes, but I shake my head.

"You can trace their death to me. I never should have picked a conversation like that for a dark, rainy car ride. I should've left a lot of things unsaid. As far as I'm concerned, it's my fault."

"You didn't know it would result in a car accident."

"Does it matter?" I shrug. "That's still what happened." I commence the story before he can say more. "When the paramedics arrived, they immediately set to work helping Kai. My dad, though, was stuck in the car. They had to cut him out. They wanted to clean up my cuts and bruises, but I wouldn't let them. Not until I saw that my dad was okay."

My voice becomes small and incapable, just like that little girl who killed her parents. "But he was bleeding too much. By the time they got to him, he'd lost too much blood. We all rode to the hospital together. Kai was rushed off to surgery. My dad – there wasn't anything they could do, because he was losing life by the minute."

Now comes the hardest part, the part I could never, ever tell anyone about. Not even Jay should know, but he's going to. I'm in too deep to jump out now.

"By the time we got to the hospital, my dad only had a few minutes left. With eyes that really didn't understand what was happening, he stared at my face. He told me I was beautiful, and that he loved me oh-so-much. He said Kai and I needed to take care of each other. Of course, there was rambling mixed in. Losing blood does that to you.

"And then he asked, 'Nya, do you love me?'

"I, the cause of his demise, was too overwhelmed to speak. I wanted to say a million words, that he was my world, my moon and stars, my daddy. That I was so, so, so sorry. That I loved him," I moan, my voice hitching. "But all I could do was cry miserably into his chest. And I never got the chance to say any of it."

I take a long drink of my cola. I don't deserve it, but I need the strength.

"Nya, I'm so sorry," Jay comforts.

"I will never, ever be that girl again."

He doesn't respond to that. "My mom – "

He's unusually quiet.

"What is it, Jay?" I'm starting to get worried. Jay's never at a loss for words.

He buries his face in his hands. "In the thirteen years since she left me, I've never spent a morning without dancing to honor her memory. Until today."