A/N: And here we are, at my very self-indulgent epilogue. If you feel that the last chapter had a perfect ending, then I suggest you leave it there. If you want to imagine that Morro went on to become part of the team and participated in every one of their adventures thereafter, then be my guest.

Like I mentioned before, I do hope to make this a series, but the only season I plan on covering is Hands of Time (I promised myself I wasn't going to take the time to rewrite it... but my hand slipped and now I'm already on episode 8, so...) I don't know when I'll finish that, and of course I also hope to continue Dark Sides in the meantime. So if you're interested, just give me a follow and keep your eyes peeled.

Anyway, this is my universe and I get to choose the alterations. (pls just let me have this T_T) Also, we all know that the ending to DotD was confusing, so I'm not even gonna try and make sense of it. I'm just gonna make it even more confusing :P

. . .

On the Night of the Departed, the half-moon shone bright over a small isle floating just outside the limits of Ninjago City. The Temple of Airjitzu had been restored to its former glory and now stood tall and vibrant. All the rotten wood and twisted vines that used to hold it aloft had vanished. The garden was freshly pruned, and the clear water of the ponds rippled with the flicking fins of koi fish.

Off to one side, a small fire burned, illuminating the faces of everyone around it. The air rang with the sounds of their stories, their jokes, their laughter. It was a warm sight to behold on such a cold holiday night.

The voices only quieted when a dragon whisked past the isle. It didn't land, but soared to the ground below. A few moments later, a figure flew up and landed on the edge of the isle. He wore a green gi wrapped in a dark cloak. There was no visible scar on his head anymore, but his hair was still marked with green, a permanent fixture that didn't seem to grow out no matter how patiently he waited. He approached the light of the campfire and was greeted with shouts of recognition.

"Hey, Morro! Good to see ya, buddy!"

Morro nodded as he walked into the light where they could see him clearly. "Cole. Happy Day of the Departed."

"You're just in time," Cole said excitedly from where he sat between Jay and Zane. "I was about to tell everyone the story of how we saved Ninjago on this very night a few years back. Your perspective will come in handy."

Jay groaned. "Do you have to tell that story every year?"

"Do you have to complain about it every year?"

"Yes! Because you tell it every year!" The others just laughed.

"Come, sit with us." Sensei Wu patted the empty space beside him.

"Jay's parents will be here soon with crumb cake," Lloyd said excitedly.

"And my dad, with his world-famous pie!" Cole added.

But Morro remained where he was. "I won't be staying. I'm just here to pick up my lanterns."

At his word, Cole brought out two identical lanterns. "You know, my services don't come cheap," he said seriously.

Morro rolled his eyes. "What do you want, a medal for lantern-fetching?"

Jay snickered. "Master of Lanterns!"

Cole glared at him, but he couldn't do much else with his hands full.

"Are you really not staying?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"It's been a while since we last saw you," Zane agreed.

Jay scoffed. "Like that's not normal? Even when he lived in the temple, he was always scarce."

Morro crossed his arms, firelight playing over the shadows on his face. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got better things to do."

"Cole took on an offended expression. "Well now I'm jealous! Are you telling me you have friends other than us? Whoever they are, I bet we throw way better parties."

"I've seen your excuse for a 'party'. If you could call it that."

"Ooh, burn," Jay said, despite the fact that he, in fact, was also the one getting burned.

Nya looked thoughtful. "I wondered why you didn't land your dragon up here. Is that what the other lantern is for? A friend of yours?"

Kai flashed a teasing grin. "Or maybe someone special? Is it just the firelight, or is he blushing?"

With immense self-control, Morro elected to ignore his taunts. He had learned that it was the only way to deal with the Fire Master, who had always remained antagonistic towards him. So had his sister, for the most part. But Morro hadn't expected that there would be so much curiosity over one extra lantern.

"Do we know them?" Cole pressed.

"Cole," Sensei Wu said sternly. "We should not pressure him. He will tell us if he wishes."

"I still say – ow!" Kai rubbed his arm where Lloyd had elbowed him. "Spoil sport," he grumbled.

"Imagine that the ninja have nothing better to do than gossip all night," Morro grumbled as he marched around the circle to snatch the lanterns from Cole.

"Well, you can't blame us for being curious," Lloyd said. "Hard to imagine that you'd be able to make friends out on your own."

Everyone's mouths fell open with a chorus of "Ooooh!"

Morro glared at Lloyd. He couldn't remember when the Green Ninja had become so bold with him, but these days it was almost normal.

"Fine, you want to know so badly? Yeah, I've met other people. I did like I said I would and I've helped people all over NInjago, people that you all are far too busy to notice."

Zane nodded. "And we appreciate your assistance. We cannot be everywhere at once, and sometimes we are forced to prioritize."

"Yeah. Well, along the way, I found someone. A friend, like you said."

"And?" Cole asked.

Curses, but they were intrusive. Cole was twisting his arm more than he had any right to, and he'd regret that later. Morro really should have known better.

"And," Morro ground out, "Let's just say that we both have a lot in common."

"That's wonderful, Morro," Sensei Wu said. "I'm happy to hear that your travels have benefited you."

"Oh, come on!" Jay complained. "You're doing this on purpose. You know, the curiosity is going to kill us if you don't let us meet them."

"You mean it'll kill you," Kai said. "I could care less, but I like to watch him squirm."

Morro shrugged, a lantern dangling from each hand. "Not my problem. I'm keeping my life private. I don't need everything I do getting all over the news like you guys."

"Well, if you ever change your minds," Lloyd said more seriously, "Any friend of yours is a a friend of ours."

"And the offer to join the team is still on the table," Cole said. "Maybe if your friend's a fighter, we can give them an audition. We can never have too many ninja."

"I like things how they are," Morro said. As far as he'd come with the ninja, there was still a lot of baggage between them. He wasn't exactly a 'team player,' and the thought of Lloyd ordering him around was still enough to make him nauseous. Besides, he'd always preferred to have the limelight to himself. Mostly to himself.

"I gotta go," he said quickly. "Thanks for the lanterns."

"Come visit again soon," Sensei Wu called after him, and Morro waved in response as he took quick strides away from their little spotlight.

The ninja continued gossiping behind him, and he was still within hearing range when Jay burst out, "I know who it is!"

This was quickly followed by a chorus of appalled "What?!" and "No!" and "Come on, Jay, that's not funny," along with a few impatient groans as everybody ganged up on him for his outrageous ideas. Morro just kept waling and didn't look back, just kept walking before someone got wise . . . then they'd both be arrested and no one would understand and they would never forgive him –

He drifted down to the ground, landing softly with a lantern still in each hand. "We should go." Then more to himself, he said, "I shouldn't have let them carry on for that long. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut around those idiots."

"I could have told you that," said a female voice. From the shadow of a large stone, she could barely be seen, even in the lanterns' glow, save for her pale hair which seemed to have a radiance of its own. She wore navy blue robes, her hair done up and away from her face.

"They're so nosy," Morro griped. He came closer and passed her one of the lanterns. The harsh light outlined her soft features and she gazed at it with a mixture of complicated emotions. Although her icy composure never cracked easily, he knew exactly what she was feeling in that moment. It was the same pain and longing he felt when he looked at his own lantern.

She caught him watching her and put back on a rigid mask. "Are we going?"

"Sure, Princess. As long as you're certain you don't want to go say hi to your friends, first . . ." Okay, so maybe the ninja did rub off on him sometimes. He didn't mind teasing her like that, because he knew exactly what she would say. Although she'd long since stopped arguing with him about the nickname.

As expected, she merely scowled at him and he laughed. "Alright, fine. In and out, just like I promised."

His energy dragon appeared in a flash. Morro climbed onto its back and hung his lantern on one of its horns before offering a hand to help her up.

"Good," she said as she took his hand and climbed onto the dragon's back. "I don't want to hang around any longer than we have to. They may be fools, but they're lucky fools."

"You're telling me." He took her lantern back and hung it on the dragon's other horn.

She wrapped her arms around his waist for security. She wasn't fond of flying - or rather, as she often reminded him, of falling. But her embrace was warmer than her attitude, and Morro had to shove Kai's teasing voice out of his mind.

The ninja wouldn't understand why Morro had stayed by her side ever since their explosive first encounter, at least not for a long time. They may never be able to forgive her, but Morro had meant it when he said that they had a lot in common. Too much in common. It was especially evident to him on tonight of all nights, when he remembered why he had gotten a second chance.

They won't remember who we are, but what we did, Cole had said about three years ago. That's the memory that endures. The spirit of who we are in the people whose lives we changed, even for a day.

Morro hadn't forgotten Cole's words from that night. He lived by them now, as much as he could. Maybe it would never make up for all the things he had done, but thanks to the ninja and their bleeding hearts, he didn't feel like he had to. The only thing he was concerned about was making sure he lived a better life going forward. A life worth remembering.

"So, where to, now?" she asked, stirring him from his thoughts.

Morro shrugged. "Wherever looks like a good place to let these things go. I figure we can find a village to touch down in and join in the celebrations. Maybe knock a few bandits if we find any."

She shrugged behind him. "Just as long as it's someplace new. I'm already tired of familiar faces."

"You got it, Princess." Morro whipped his reigns and the dragon spread its wings. "And maybe while we're at it, we'll make someone's day."

They took off into the night sky, the dragon beating its wings as they rose far above the temple, only a distant green shape to the ninja camped on the isle, until they disappeared out of sight completely.