I thought that the air would always be warm with a sunset, like most sunsets I'd seen, yet this evening the world was cold and crisp. It was a bite out of a fresh apple, and I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one who noticed. Though, maybe I was the only one that noticed. I wasn't sure. It wasn't like I interacted much with the human race anymore.

     The Dark Island had become a refuge in my and Lloyd's later years, a place far away from the curious, prying eyes of society. Both of us had Oni blood, so both of us stayed relatively fit while our neighbors grew old and passed away. Lloyd feared that we might be in danger, especially from maniacs who got the idea that we could somehow show them a path to immortality. We ended up doing what Wu had done before us. We left Ninjago to live out the rest of our days elsewhere.

     And strangely enough, we chose to come back to the Dark Island. There was a set path of memories and past grievances, yet I knew Lloyd and I had experience in blocking out the painful reminiscing. Putting the good future forward was an essential step in strengthening our marriage. It had done us much benevolence over the years. As much as it hurt to see the place where Shade slaughtered a man, then collapsed sobbing into my arms, or the place where my only daughter rejected us forever, or the place where Morro was so lifeless I thought I'd lost another child, I knew I couldn't let those memories define the island. Just like I didn't let my time as the Quiet One define me.

     The Temple of Light didn't respond much to Lloyd anymore. It did little things for us at first, such as opening up the pathways where the First Spinjitzu Master's old quarters were kept or changing the murals on the walls to keep us updated on our children's lives. As the years dragged on, Lloyd's connection weakened with his blood, and the temple stopped responding to his touch. Lloyd and I spent time building a small shack a little ways away from the Temple of Light, as well as tilling our own garden and raising livestock. Meanwhile, in the valleys below us, colonizers spread throughout the island.

     It took a little over one hundred years for the Dark Island to claim it deserved independence from its mother country. It took almost fifty for them to win it in a political war. Lloyd and I stood atop our mountain as Ninjago and the Dark Island battled time after time, even though most of the fighting was due to trade skirmishes. We watched the little huts of the colonists turn to flourishing cities; we watched the swamps get leveled and drained to become farms. The once deserted island converted into a full-fledged country, and a rather popular one at that.

     It took the citizens another fifty years after their independence to discover where the Temple of Light was hidden, and another twenty for them to prepare it for tourists. Soon, the mountainside was packed with people from both Ninjago and the Dark Island, all of them coming to revel in the heroes of legend. The Ninja. Our tale to save the realm.

     Lloyd and I grew old together, watching the world transform before our eyes. There was a sort of stillness upon Lloyd's figure, a tranquility in his eyes that he could never fully explain. Sometimes he'd tell me he felt as if he could embrace the entire world in his arms. Sometimes he sat in front of our shack and watched the warm sunsets, smiling at nothing at all. He'd finally found his peace in life, and I was content to share that with him.

     We never saw Ver again, but that was not unexpected. The murals in the Temple of Light only showed her being crowned, then speaking to Firstbourne. We did not see anything of her progress in life after that, nor did we ever receive any other form of communication. She stuck to her path well and left us behind forever.

     The last time I had seen Morro was before Lloyd and I left to make the journey to the Dark Island. He had been sitting on his favorite sofa with a book in hand, reading poetry while his wife knitted beside him. She looked a lot older than he, but the love that existed between them did not wane with age. I think we both knew that Noria didn't have much time left, yet Morro did not prematurely grieve. He spent every day with her, giving her all the joys of life he could offer.

     I had always been proud of Morro for his actions after the final battle. He had relentlessly studied at college, working overtime in a side job to save up as much money as possible. He had traveled straight to Shadow Bay as soon as he had enough money, and had demanded not just the release of Noria, but her entire family as well. And by some miracle, he was able to obtain it.

     Noria's family was relocated into housing close to the Ninjago City docks, where her parents quickly put their life skills to good use. Noria and her siblings went to school. After a year or so, Morro finally proposed to her, and she said yes.

     They spent a good deal of their days in conversation, switching from silence to words as quickly or slowly as they chose. From their marriage sprang ten children, all of whom were endless bundles of energy. Lloyd and I adored watching them, and they loved to spend time with us. They were the only grandchildren that we knew of. Sometimes I wondered if Morro and Noria had so many because they knew they'd be the only ones.

     I didn't know if Ver ever got married. And Shade...

     I had only seen Shade twice after Morro and Noria's wedding.

     Once when he stopped by the docks to wave goodbye as Lloyd and I sailed away to our new home.

     And once when he had stopped by the Temple of Light to stay two days.

     Shade never spoke much of what he had been doing over all that time. His beard was kept and his figure was still pleasing, so I assumed he had been taking good care of himself. He spoke of everything yet nothing at all, leaving us with barely any information of where he'd been staying or what he'd been doing. All I was left with was the knowledge that he was alive and well, and that he'd been traveling around the islands. No ring was upon his finger. No new scars littered his skin.

     When he left, I felt almost as if he'd never visited at all.

     And now he was gone, at least I was mostly sure of such. It had been over two thousand years since Lloyd and I left Ninjago. I had watched the world around me grow warm with affection from the heavens. I had watched the realm grow more and more prosperous as time passed.

     I had seen little boys who chased after sheep rise to become great diplomats. I had seen generations flourish and expand to greater heights. Ninjago as a realm was a thriving place, and the imbalance was continuously treating it better and better.

     Yet Lloyd still died.

     He wanted to watch the sunset with me one last time. We had sat together in front of the Temple of Light, watching the sun dip below the horizon and cause the sky to turn gold. Lloyd had held my hand, smiling as the light in his brilliant green eyes slowly faded. He leaned against me, coughing up his last breaths.

     "It was worth it," he had whispered.

     I had held him closer, trying my best not to let the tears fall. His hair was no longer a healthy hue, his form was no longer fit and well-worked. Lloyd had smiled with each wrinkle that caressed his skin, because he had known it was a sign he wasn't immortal. I knew one day he wished to go to the Departed Realm so he could be reunited with his friends and family. Lloyd was sad that he had to leave me, but his joy couldn't be more complete with his death.

     "What was worth it?" I asked, studying my own wrinkles. I wondered if I could ever look at them with as much contentment as my husband.

     "The pain," he coughed again. He had clutched my hand tighter, struggling to force his breaths. It wouldn't be long now. "The heartbreak. The suffering. Every single second of it was worth it."

     Then he looked at me with such affection that I didn't even need to ask why. The pain had led to love. So much love. Lloyd had passed himself on to three children, and at least ten adoring grandchildren. He had lived a fulfilling life and found the peace he was looking for. This death... this wasn't a burden to him. It was a beginning.

     "I-I'll..." he wheezed for breath, his grip slowly loosening. "I'll... be... waiting."

     He had slumped against me, falling prey to eternal sleep.

     I had burned his corpse and scattered his ashes around the plateaus of the Dark Island, spreading him out across the world we'd come to love. His grave was situated where he had taken his last breaths.

     I walked over to it now, running my pruned hands over the cracked stones. It was a miracle the grave had stood for this long, and even more of a miracle that I could get out of bed to come see it. The magic in my Oni blood was finally waning, and my time was finally here.

     The sunset in front of me was a brilliant gold, like always, but this time it was more reminiscent than anything. I could see the pitch blackness behind me, a dark too strong to bring about a normal night. I had lived for over two thousand years. I had watched the world rise and fall. I knew what was coming.

     "I have lived a good life," I whispered into the gentle winds, a stray tear falling across my spotted skin. Beyond this sunset there was the loving face of Lloyd, my children, and... and...

     I sat down next to the grave, ignoring the aches in my joints. Just this morning I had refused to milk the goats due the pain in my back. Yet, somehow, I made it all the way here to say goodbye.

     There was no one left to hold onto me. No one's hand I could entwine my shaking fingers with, no person I could confess my fears to as my life flashed before my eyes. I was scared—no, terrified of death. I knew the fires that lay beyond the Departed City. Even though I had done much good, I was still afraid of the endless smoke and constant screams. If I landed in the chasm, then I'd never see Lloyd again. I'd be alone forever.

     The realm itself turned crisper with each passing second, the darkness around the dome of the sky growing. The citizens littered in their towns beneath the sun's glare didn't notice a thing. They were probably tucking their younglings into bed, all alive with laughter. They had no idea what was about to happen.

     It had taken two thousand years for the imbalance to catch up with Ninjago.

     Two thousand years.

     And now the realm was ready to meet its fate.

     I clutched Lloyd's gravestone, leaning against it as the world around me pinpointed a single golden light. Suddenly I was not afraid. Suddenly I felt no fear at all. All I could feel was tranquility and joy, as the realm around me faded away into the recesses of the Ethereal Divide.

     I had lived a good life.

     Now, it was finally time to face death once again.

     And when I opened my eyes, there was only light.

     The aches of my older body were gone. I could not feel anything, save the peace that had decided to sit on my soul. The world could crumble and I would still be content. There was nothing I should be worried about. Everything was fine.

     When I turned around, there was a staircase. It was wider than the horizon, stretching both up and down as far as I could see. Beneath me there was a city, alive with a thousand twinkling lights. Above me there was a vast expanse of clouds. And there were people, lots of people, walking up and down the staircase. Most walked in groups of two or three, while others stood still and waited for another to join them.

     I faltered. I didn't remember any of this. The air was clean and crisp. The world was alive with playful chatter. I didn't know how one could have so much happiness on a magical staircase, but perhaps this wasn't the Departed Realm at all.

     And then I felt his smile.

     His smile, the smile I'd been longing for ever since it extinguished so long ago.

     "Hello Harumi," said Morro.

     And then I was in his arms, twirling around the steps, my face buried into the crook of his neck. I was crying, but I think we both knew they weren't tears of sadness. My friend, my best friend, my family, he had come back to me. Just like he promised.

     When he stepped away his eyes crinkled with his grin. There was an age in his eyes, a knowledge and maturity that suddenly made me feel younger than I'd ever been. When I looked down at myself, I was nothing more than a floating spirit. My body was not old, yet it wasn't young either. In fact, it flickered between the two, giving me no sense of how I actually appeared to the rest of the spirits around us.

     "I've missed you," I said.

     He closed his eyes and sighed. "I have been waiting a very long time." He stepped away, merely flitting through the air. His voice was hoarse. "But now it is finally time for you to make your journey."

     Morro gestured to the staircase around us. "You have done much good during life, Harumi, enough good to redeem yourself. With the end of Ninjago, you are given two choices. This staircase goes in two directions. If you decide to go down, you will soon find yourself in the Departed City. There you will live in the utmost comfort until your year is up, then you will rise into the clouds of light.

      "If you choose to go up, then you will enter the clouds of light earlier. Each step will be hard to take, for your mind and soul will have to be cleansed faster. But I will be with you every single step." He pressed a finger to his lips when I opened my mouth. "Both journeys will provide a joy beyond measure. One will give you comfort and stability, the other companionship. The destination will be the same either way. It is up to you."

     "What lies beyond the clouds of light?" I asked. "Is my family waiting for me?"

     "I cannot guarantee that everyone you have loved will be waiting for you," Morro said gently. "The world is a fickle place; and you will never truly understand fate until your mind is made superior."

     "Has your mind been made superior?"

     "Yes," his voice became wistful, and again I saw that age beyond his years spark in his eyes. "It had caused me much heartbreak and much joy. However, I am happy here. You will be happy too."

     I looked down at the city beneath us. People roamed the streets in gaggles, their excited voices telling tales beyond our hearing. Others lounged in the building's swimming pools, while some simply relaxed on their balconies with a book. Meanwhile the people walking up the stairs clutched their guides with all their strength, the strain in their smiling faces showing as they attempted to climb.

     "You will be with me?" I asked my guide.

     "Every step," he promised.

     I took one of his hands, clutching it like a lifeline. With tremendous effort, I took a step up. It wasn't as hard as I imagined, but I knew it would only get worse from there. Morro smiled again, and then I felt another hand clasp my own. Turning, I saw Lloyd grinning at me.

     I wanted to laugh, cry, jump into his arms, and sit down all at once. He silenced my exuberance by pressing a steady kiss against my fingers. In his deep green eyes there was a steady love, an ever-constant devotion that would last from now until eternity.

     "Hello Lloyd," I whispered.

     With one hand in Morro's, and the other in my husband's, I took another step up. All together we kept climbing, up and up towards the clouds of light. I could already feel my mind clearing, my despair subsiding, the wounds of my worldly life falling away.

     After so long, I was finally reunited with the two people I loved the most.

     Maybe, once we finally made it to the clouds of light, I would be able to be with everyone else. My children. My parents. The Ninja.

     But for now, I was stuck with my best friend and my life's greatest love.

     And that was enough for me.

Finis.