Reconciled Hearts, Ch. 147

HELLO ALL! I'm the Ash that Jade was talking about; my username is BlueJayXWaterlily851. As she mentioned before, I am going to be writing half the chapters for Reconciled Hearts with her now! I am SO, SO excited and I hope I live up to any of your expectations for my writing. I really want to be able to continue the book as well as Jade and Lilla started it, and I want to make it known that I was never and am not trying to replace anyone, I just wanted to help Jade continue the book. That being said, here is Chapter 147, and I hope you like it :)

Harumi groaned, as her vision started to clear, in pain as she heard voices, talking. She saw she was in a room, and there were three familiar girls. Her eyes widened as she tried sitting up. She yelled out in pain, as she felt her body tense up. Harumi yelled out shuddering breaths, as she tried to remain calm. She heard footsteps and through her blurry eyes saw Kaitlynn, Lilla, and Jade walking over to her; Kaitlynn went over and told her to lie down since she was badly injured and in a very weak, bad state.
Harumi slowly lay down on the thing she was on, then looked at the three. She then asked the girls, "Where am I? What happened?" As the three girls look at each other then nodded in agreement, Jade tells her that they will tell her when she's a little better. She closes her eyes, falls into a sleep.
Sometime later she was able to sit up and was greeted by the three girls; Lilla was holding some Orange Juice for her, to help her. Harumi nods thanks; she takes a sip then looks at the girls, asking how she got here. The girls take seats; they look at each other before Jade explained that they were gonna ask her the same question. They were just going for a walk and then they just found her in a dumpster; they didn't know if she was alive. Kaitlynn says that Jade poked her cheek! Jade says that it was because she wanted to see if Harumi was still breathing. Lilla then explained that after establishing she was alive, they carried her to their tree house to help her and find out what was going on. Why the heck was she in a dumpster and looking badly injured? Harumi's eyes widened as she remembered everything that happened the previous day; her teeth clenched as she muttered Zephyr's name. Lilla asks what happened, what was happening in Ninjago, as Harumi starts to get up and get off the bed, saying she needed to get home to the Resistance.
Kaitlynn pushed her gently back down, stopping her to explain that she could hardly stand with the amount of injuries she had. Harumi tried to push against her hand, getting frantic, saying she had to get home; her family needed her, her city needed her, she needed to get home.
Lilla asked her how she thought she'd be able to get home, if she was from Ninjago, a whole different place. Harumi replied that she could use the realm Crystal. Then Jade handed her the remains of the realm Crystal that they found Harumi landed on when she got there.
Despite seeing her only way home broken, she still was frantic, saying that she was still going to try to find a way. There was no way she wasn't going to. She looked like she was on the brink of tears as she then curled up into a ball.
Jade then looks at the girls, then looked at Harumi and made her decision. The girls said that they would help her get home, and Harumi looked up with tear-filled eyes in disbelief. Jade replied again that they would help her, they would help her get home, and with this Zephyr guy.
Kaitlynn called Jade insane, and Jade shook her head. She walked over to Harumi, putting a hand on her shoulder, saying she was their friend! And as friends, they needed to help her; that's what friends do, and right now their friend was in very much need of their help.
Kaitlyn then proceeded to ask, "How are we gonna do that? The Realm Crystal is gone, there's no chance of Harumi getting home, so what's the chance of us getting home?"
Jade however shook her head, as she gave a grin; she said as she looked at the girls, "There's always hope." Kaitlynn rolled her eyes, saying again that she's insane. She began to walk off, Jade looks at Lilla, and says, "We have to help her, that's what friends do." Right now there was something happening in Harumi's home, this bad guy Zephyr; her family was in danger and they needed to help!
Lilla looks at Harumi; her eyes were almost pleading with her, then Lilla looks back at Jade. After a few minutes she says, "Fine," and Kaitlynn yells saying that they have lost their minds. Jade shook her head saying something, she said to Kaitlynn that they have faith. The girl rolled her eyes. She muttered something, as she walked off, and Harumi said to the girls, "Do you really think we'll be able to get back to Ninjago?" Jade confidently nods, and said that they will. For now, they needed to start packing; they didn't know how long they would be on the road.
Harumi nodded, as she sat up, noticing something. Lilla smiled and explained that they got her some crutches, but it wasn't the usual crutches. They were hand-free crutches; her broken leg was going to be safe there; the crutch would act like her leg, and she'd work normally.
Harumi smiled; Lilla and Jade helped Harumi get out of bed and onto a nearby chair, then started to get the crutch strapped on. Lilla then asked if it felt comfortable or if it felt too tight for her. Harumi stood, her knee resting comfortably on the mini cushion.
She smiled, she looked at the two, saying, "Yes it's fine," and said "thank you" as the two nodded. Jade left Lilla with Harumi as she went to pack up her stuff for the journey. Lilla looks at Harumi and asks, "Who is this Zephyr?''
Harumi replies, "The worst person you'll ever meet."

Less than an hour later, the four girls joined back outside the house, Harumi coming last. The other three had promised to watch her all the way and make sure she wouldn't get any more hurt than her already broken leg.
They paused outside, stopping to go over the plan once again. Harumi had carefully gone over the plan with the other three simultaneously while they were packing. After losing the Realm Crystal, they didn't have many options left. That was until Harumi had recalled the rifts left behind from her battle with Zackery, months ago. She proposed that if they could find the one in the Human Realm, they could use it to travel back to Ninjago. It was currently their best and only possible way of returning. So the girls had decided to try finding the spot that Harumi and Zackery had landed during their battle, and here they were, ready to set out and help Harumi back into Ninjago.
Harumi was the one who took the first brave step toward finding the rift. The only thing they remembered was that the rift was in the secluded back corner of the city park. Harumi was doubtful, but the girls had reassured her by saying that it was near their favorite ice cream shop that they visited for brainstorming. Quite often.
The girls set out toward the center of the city and stopped at the park from Harumi's first visit. Harumi scanned the park and saw nothing but a few dogs, frisbees flying in her vision, and a couple picnic blankets. That was until one of the girls saw a darker corner in the opposite direction, behind the playground.
"I think you guys landed right over there," Jade pointed to it.
"Okay then, I'll check it out," Harumi offered. "You all can scour the rest of the park."
"You? Alone?" Lilla asked protectively.
"She'll be fine, I think," Kaitlynn reassured her. "It's Harumi, after all."
After a bit of grumbling and mumbling, Lilla conceded and split up with the rest of the girls, heading towards the playground, closest to Harumi. Those two saw Jade headed to the gazebo, and Kaitlynn to the volleyball nets by the front. Lilla and Harumi eventually parted ways too, hoping that they would find the rift as soon as possible so Harumi could return to Ninjago. Harumi, newly on her own, skidded to a stop behind the playground, after walking through a grove of trees, and came into view of the fence, as well as the edge of the park.
Her surroundings were empty except for long grasses under her feet and tall trees speckling the open space around her. Until...
Harumi heard a gust of sudden wind and some twigs snapping, a little far away from her, at the corner where the fence met a brick wall. Her trained ears picked up footsteps and shallow breathing from the same place.
The girl crept over there silently and tensed when she felt a hand on her shoulder; she whipped around, ready to attack, and felt her muscles relax when she saw Jade's face.
"Oh, it's just you," Harumi breathed thankfully.
"What'd you mean, 'just you'?" Kaitlynn questioned, narrowing her eyes.
"I heard some noise over there," Harumi jerked her head in the direction of the sounds, "so I was gonna check it out."
Without another word, she turned to continue, the other three trailing behind her until they reached the darkest crevices of a public park.
To Harumi's horror, they saw a swirling black vortex opening in front of them, and figures emerging from it. The girls quickly hid behind some bushes, while Harumi went behind a tree, putting a finger up to her lips.
"Everyone stay quiet," she whispered from her spot, receiving three curt nods in return.
The girls alertly kept an eye on the portal, paying no heed to the other civilians, pets, and kites behind them, and Harumi occasionally glanced backward, acting as their rearview mirror. She was startled when Lilla whispered, "Who's that?"
Harumi turned her head, gasping, her heart bursting with joy to see a familiar blonde boy step out. She instantly darted out from behind the tree, ready to envelop him in a tight hug.
"Harumi, wait, no!" Lilla grabbed her arm, pulling her back when she was milliseconds away from him. Harumi fought to get out of her hold. "What are you doing?"
Meanwhile, Harumi was still struggling. "It's---it's Lloyd---let me go---what---..."
The blonde trailed off and took a moment to look at Lloyd's features. He looked paler than usual, his body was emaciated, and his jaw was set. His demeanor expressed a tired yet cold heart.
As Harumi paused to stare at his face, she saw something blocking his beautiful, power-filled green eyes.
"Why's he wearing sunglasses.." Harumi was ready to stride forward and take them off herself.
"Let's find out," Jade suggested, pulling a slingshot and a sharp rock out of nowhere. She deftly launched the rock with perfect aim into the middle of the glasses, and the girls watched it split in half, like a broken heart.
Harumi's own heart lurched with pain as she gasped at the jaded purple eyes previously sheltered by the sunglasses. She grabbed the other girls, dragging them slightly backward.
"It's not him...it's not him..." she whimpered, afraid of this Lloyd. If he could even have that name. "What has Zephyr done..."
"It doesn't matter right now!" Kaitlynn proceeded to spin everyone around, seeing the Bizarro Lloyd chase them with weapons drawn. "We need to focus on saving ourselves first!"
The girls broke out into a run, but they didn't get very far before someone else with violet pupils blocked their path. Harumi recoiled, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Nya...no...please tell me that wasn't her..."
The girls backed away from Bizarro Nya on their left, and Lilla spotted Bizarro Lloyd helping her close in on them from their right. They shifted to form a circle, with Harumi and Lilla facing Lloyd, Jade and Kaitlynn facing Nya.
With nowhere to go and two turned-evil ninjas on their circumference, the girls grabbed what weapons they had and prepared for a fight-or-die sequence.
The first one to move was Bizarro Lloyd. Harumi safely blocked his sword, inches away from their necks, and pushed it to the ground, but it wasn't enough to knock it out of his hands. The broken silence behind her suggested that the girls were having trouble with Nya, but Harumi had her own problems in front of her.
Jade narrowly dodged two hidden daggers that Bizarro Lloyd pulled from his boots, and acted as the offense while Harumi was the defense. He seemed to be going mainly for Harumi, under Zephyr's orders, the girl guessed. Jade had never fought like this before, which made it increasingly dangerous for all the girls except Harumi, but they were going to try their hardest.
On the other side, Lilla and Kaitlynn were struggling to work together to fight Bizarro Nya; Zephyr's creations were built to have the same skill level as the real ninja, and Nya was a very skilled fighter, from what they had heard. It was hard to duck away from her trident, feet, and fists simultaneously until they came up with a plan to use the Two-Side combo kick and knocked her down one after the other from opposite sides.
As the Bizarro Nya crumpled to the floor, unconscious, Lilla and Kaitlynn turned around to see Jade and Harumi still having trouble with Lloyd. The girls rushed to catch Harumi as she fell to the ground, the victim of a powerful kick to her chest. She lay gasping on the grass as Jade landed a lucky kick to his shin, and Bizarro Lloyd backed away.
Jade eyed the black vortex that they came from. "Couldn't we just go back through here?"
She ran to it and reached out, her fingers penetrating the black middle, as they felt like they were touching storm clouds. Jade instantly recoiled with a yelp.
"Nope, it shocked me," she said, terrified.
"It must only allow certain things or people to travel through," Harumi guessed, pulling her back away from it and to the rest of the girls, forming a tight circle again.
The girls turned around to see Bizarro Nya staggering to her feet, and Bizarro Lloyd recovering from Jade's attack, both ready to fight again.
And then, Harumi saw it.
"The rift! GET TO THE RIFT! We can lose them on the other side!" she shouted, taking off in a run with everyone else on her trail.
"Will it lead to Ninjago, though?" Kaitlynn questioned. "Last time, it spat you guys out in so many different realms, ours was just one of them. Can it be controlled like the Realm Crystal?"
"It's worth a shot," Lilla said confidently. "We'll get there when we get there, somehow."
Harumi looked at the rift, flickering up high, right above the brick wall, unseen before because it was above them. Her boots scraped the dirt as she stopped running and knelt down, locking her hands together.
"Whoa...whoa...what are we doing--"
"Jump!"
Jade, Kaitlynn, and Lilla all consecutively jumped on Harumi's foothold without stopping their run and launched into the air. They scrambled for a hold on the top of the wall, helping each other to pull themselves up.
Harumi took one last look at the Bizarro ninjas, took a running start, and jumped as high as she could, using silver Spinjitzu to take her the rest of the way. She landed neatly on the wall, and the girls collectively stared at the two below.
Bizarro Nya was getting ready to climb the wall herself, but Lloyd stopped her, his expression unreadable. He stared, a long piercing gaze, at the rift, squinted, then motioned backward. The two wordlessly turned back and left silently through the black portal they came.
Harumi dusted herself off, and the girls formed a ring, shoulder to shoulder. She summoned her Spinjitzu once again, and jumped, as all of them fell into the first rift.