y o u r  h a l f

zane

He took in two measured breathes, then dived in with the tweezers, gently extracting the bullet. It didn't hurt - why should it? He was a nindroid. Nonetheless, the code made it so that Zane felt the closest replication of pain. Hissing, he dropped the offending missile into a metal tray on the rickety armrest of the seat. With a sigh, he began the slow, careful process of cleaning the wound - for him, at least it involved tools and a bit of tricky wiring. Then again, Zane was used to that. He did end up winding a roll of medical wrap, thin enough to let him move but enough time to keep him from moving too much in order to let his systems repair whatever he couldn't from the outside.

Wincing, he stood up, throwing a disgusted look towards the bullet laying in the dish. Bullets for Zane were not fatal, unless aimed in the right places, but he'd reinforced those areas with thin, strong layers of titanium in case such an event did happen. No, it was more psychological. Zane felt...expendable. Technology growth and expertise was growing rapidly and it was becoming easier to repair little wounds or even bigger messes, but sometimes he felt like a single use baby-bum wipe.

You use one, throw it away, and boom. There's another. The mess of the initial wipe is cleared away, leaving you with a clean slate. Because of his use-one-there's-another aspect, Zane was constantly reuploading his memories, skills, lessons and hard drive up to the mega computer in the monastery. Not on the Bounty though, the ship was in constant danger and if someone stole his data, well, another problem for the ninja to deal with.

He descended the stairs, using his feet to check if the floorboards could hold up - he'd been in too much of a rush, racing through Crashcourse Canyon and the Glacier Barrens to the closest place where he could hide to check the strength of the boards. Birchwood Forest. Admittedly, it had taken some time for his GPS to lock on the giant, hollowed out tree that had once been his home. These low-life criminals were more organised than anticipated, and having been on a solo mission, Zane had quickly assessed the situation and knew this was the best place.

The hidden workshop was the base of his memories, at least, one he'd remembered after the switch had been turned on. One hand wrapped around his chest where the bandage was, he stalked around the room, smiling dimly at the memories that popped up. Learning his first major skills, spending time with his father...then, discovering he was an android. The smile fell, and he sat down on the thin bed in the corner where the memory of his father passing took place.

His smile hadn't dropped, now it was more...confused. Ever since discovering that his father was alive (ignoring the fact that he'd properly passed away later), Zane couldn't help but feel a little mad at him. If anything, violated. Because Zane was a nindroid, it was common afterthought for people to think two things. One, that he was incapable of feeling emotions, such as love. And two, he wasn't really human. Of course he didn't have flesh and bone, but he had as much humanity as they did.

Really, the same things had applied to him when he first started training to become a ninja. His brothers had always been wary of him, cautious of his strange behaviours and he'd lived a fair amount of his life with no reasoning as to why. Pixal had always known that she was of metal though, and she grew with the knowledge, allowing her to fit in seamlessly with society.

If only his father left the memory switch alone, maybe Zane wouldn't be classified as the 'weird' one of the ninja team, even after all these years. It still hurt, being left out of TV interviews, shows, activities, and other typical human things simply because he acted oddly. Maybe he held a small grudge against his father. Maybe he didn't.

The longer he stared at the empty, dust laid bed, the more the ache in his chest spread, the harder his nails dug into his palms, the longer his brain was going in circles.

His thoughts would have run grooves in his head if he hadn't been interrupted by the door of the workshop creaking open. Immediately, his hand jumped to the pair of shurikens casually laying on the table. He let out a slow breath of relief as Pixal stepped in, her green eyes flashing with worry as she assessed him.

"I received your distress signal." she said softly, sitting down next to him. "How is the wound?"

"Fine." he murmured, emotions too clogged up to think. "Did the others succeed in capturing them?"

"Yes, the criminals were apprehended shortly after your beacon flared."

"This place confuses me." the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, tumbling over one another. "I have happy memories, with my father, achieving my true potential, meeting Master Wu, yet...he betrayed me."

Pixal only cocked her head, letting him speak rushed thoughts.

"He thought I was too vulnerable to be able to handle his death, perhaps I would have been but...he lied to me. For so long I didn't remember anything, thought him dead, and when he finally died...I—I. I felt strange. Like I'd been freed from an invisible cage."

"I am...somewhat angry at my father too." Pixal admitted shyly, his eyes jumping to hers. Go on, the ice in his eyes melted - just for her, only for her. "He must have made the decision to create my evil coding - the coding the Overlord used, I mean."

She paused there, looking to Zane. The Overlord was a touchy subject for both of them. It brought back painful, excruciating memories for both of them, and Zane knew from whispered nights that Pixal still had nightmares of her possession. Nodding for her to continue, Zane gave her a reassuring smile.

"Therefore, that means he must have had the option to not input that coding. Sometimes, sometimes I try to get it out of my system, the remnants of it were still there, but I can't." she whispered, looking down to her hands shakily. "It's always there. He put it there."

"It scares me, that a person with enough knowledge could turn us against each other. We are so vulnerable, not from the outside, but from the inside. And my father took advantage of that, and—and he used me like a pawn. I was a pawn in a game that was so dangerous it could have destroyed Ninjago. It would have been my fault, if you traced everything back, that the Overlord truly rose to power."

Zane looked her in the eyes, at the stark fear in the swirling green he found comfort in. "But without the Overlord, I don't think I would have found love."

"What?" Pixal breathed in confusion.

"Without the Overlord, I would never have realised how quickly I came to care for you. And I got to know you better than I know myself when you helped me rebuild my physical body. Pixal, you are my other half for a reason. I would not have given half my core to someone I didn't trust, who I didn't love. The Overlord is in our past, and despite the horrible things we've had to endure, I am still yours. I will always be yours."

She smiled through watery eyes. "Zane, it is not a bad thing that you hold a grudge against your father. It is perfectly normal, though mostly with other reasoning, that a son might be angry with his father. It was an important decision, and it led you on a journey of self discovery. You achieved your True Potential because you realised who you were, inside and outside." She held her palm over his core, "It is okay to be vulnerable. Despite what people may think, we can still feel everything that is happening to us, and it doesn't mean that you should pretend you can't."

He looked down, shaken yet treasuring her words.

"I am your other half," Pixal smiled softly.

"And I am yours."

-

A/N: okay first of all, I am so sorry SpaceCloud413 , this oneshot was way overdue, but I hope I did well! I don't write a lot of romance but this prompt was really interesting and a wonderful idea. I feel like it's a little short, but when I write emotions I think in real life they go by too fast to think about a lot. I have a one shot called 'Skyfall' in progress, a Kai one, and another for Harumi titled 'Silence'. They'll both be pretty short but I'll try to release them tomorrow!