Lloyd wanted his team, his family. He was in scarily familiar territory but felt no more certain about it than he ever had before and had never faced something like this without them. Now he faced the unknown with his beautiful stranger, who he trusted with a certainty, but realised he had no security in that trust, not the security built from experiences shared with his team. But they were here and working on it and it felt right.

'Lloyd... Lloyd?' Harumi called to him. He turned to her from staring out at the mist from the shingle beach 'Do you fancy helping me with this boat?' Harumi huffed and thrust her hands towards the small dingy, as if he had not seen it right beside her. She had dragged it a certain way from the boat-house but was getting nowhere and now it had hit the shingle its prow sank deep into it like a bog with sticky fingers holding tight 'perhaps the boat does not want to go where we are going' she said and pulled at it for effect before dropping the rope, exasperated. She kicked it for effect 'clever boat' she said through clenched teeth.

Lloyd watched her show and it immediately lifted his spirits. She was highly strung. Now she had free will to speak her true mind it was like she could not turn it off. He found it very amusing and considered letting her huff and rant a bit longer, but then thought better of it. He started to trudge towards her, the steep unstable beach slipping annoyingly beneath his feet. He stopped and thought he would try something else.

Harumi growled 'well? Are you gonna help m...!' but stopped abruptly when she started to rise from the ground, the boat alongside her. The soft strands of Lloyd's energy, held her without pressure and after the initial surprise, she lay back and relaxed into it. The boat floated on and settled at the shoreline as Harumi slowed to a stop in front of her smiling charioteer 'well this is much more comfy than that lumpy bed I made, couldn't we have tried this out last night?' she said coquettishly, turning to hover on her side '...in-fact, couldn't we just float over to the Dark island?'

Lloyd laughed 'I don't think I could maintain this type of energy for that trip... but I wouldn't mind jumping in there with you now'

'It's a free world' Harumi said with a smile and a glint in her eye.

Lloyd leant back onto the energy field 'Perhaps when we get back... something to look forward to'

Harumi let out a long sigh and rolled onto her back, her body bobbing down gently into the mist 'I don't think I can wait that long'

Lloyd moved into the energy cloud and placed his hands beneath her. The mist dispersed slowly and he supported her body as she came back down to earth.

'Spoil sport' she joked. But Lloyd kept his arms where they were and gracefully pulled her to him 'We need something to focus on, something good in a dark place and to be honest I'm finding it difficult to think about anything else at the moment, so lets hold that thought'

'What are you expecting to happen when we get there exactly?'

'I don't know. But the Island exists as a proof of creation. Without it, all the good in the world could not exist, and I wonder if that doesn't actually make it a bad thing. Perhaps it's something else, something beyond good and evil? That's another thing I don't know'

'You should have studied more...'

'Believe me Harumi, studying is all I do! But some books cannot give all the answers'

'I guess not, I mean why would it call to us? Is it sentient or is there something there? It's showing us old demons and we're just running towards it with open arms; which doesn't make much sense'

'No, but compulsion is only partly under our control'

Harumi looked at Lloyd, the confusion on her face obvious to see 'What do you mean?' she asked Lloyd

'The destiny writers are up there right now frantically scribbling our path, informing the dark island that we're on our way... They're all in cahoots; these remnants of creation'

'Destiny Writers? Are you telling me our Destiny is written? That we don't have free will?'

Lloyd looked at Harumi and realised she wouldn't have a clue about some of the things he now took for granted and Harumi continued indignantly 'Well... now I really do have someone I can blame. Just give me half a chance and they will rue the day they crossed me!'

'Believe me, I've thought the same so many times' Lloyd replied to Harumi 'but I think they are more complex than their name suggests. While it may seem that they are controlling our destiny, I believe they are actually watching the progress of our lives and fine-tuning the car crash it could so easily be' Lloyd turned to Harumi and looked into her eyes 'we are here. Enemies united by something more. At what point they wrote our diversion I don't know, but we are on our own path together now. Maybe the Dark Island will help us somehow? Make us face our demons or learn to live with them. Or at the very least, give us some answers'

'What are your questions?' Harumi asked.

Lloyd sighed 'just one big fat why?'

'Ha! You might have to be a bit more specific than that'

'I'm not so sure. I think this island knows all about me'

'Really?' Harumi asked a hint of surprise in her voice.

'Sure. The Overlord lured my father even further down the black rabbit hole there. If that Island holds life, it will have his history written in its bedrock' Lloyd looked up to the sky 'and the destiny writers are up there right now frantically scribbling our path, so they must see a path that works for us on the Dark Island'

'Well you really do know all kinds of shit... but you know, my education was kind of limited. The Grand Master controlled everything and I only needed to know enough to carry out his plan'

'Even at the Palace? What about your pare... adopted parents?'

'No, that's not how its done in a royal household. There is a person for every role. My... parents' role was to be Ninjago's figureheads and they thought they were doing the right thing by me, making me a figurehead in waiting, a princess for the people. I had a governess, dressers, personal cooks, friends to play with, all of whom gained their position through my own personal aid, who happened too be the Grand Master'

'So even when you were adopted out, you were never free'

'He came with me from the 'home'. An esteemed figure himself in court circles' he had a legitimate House, was known by his family name and respected by Ninjago's elite... and the royals. His esteem was high because of the good he would do in the community and the care he gave to orphans at the home. They did not know the flip side. It was purely a cover, for another house that grew as strong as the one that held his family name, called only The House of Shadows. At the home, he would skim off the fittest to build his shadow army'

'And after your ordeal, this is where you were sent and nobody knew what they were sending you into'

Harumi shook her head 'As soon as he saw me I became his obsession and my training started immediately. He used my pain like a torture. Twisting my loss into a form of power. He would not allow me sleep or tears, he warped the world, that was broken for me already and created a weapon from vengeance itself...' Harumi hesitated and looked longingly at Lloyd '...and its still there. I still feel it'

'Harumi, I can't expect an experience like this to leave you completely. I understand it will live with you, but I can help; I can wrap my arms around you and give you the love you have missed. Give you a family again... one that will probably refuse to accept you, but that's like most families, so I've heard'

'That's the thing. While the royals left me cold, they were actually warm and giving, but I had been so brainwashed I chose to hate them and let them die'

'Harumi...' Lloyd went to speak but she cut him off and continued.

'He presented me to the Royals himself and in that first meeting all I wanted to do was to shout at them, claw at them, use some of my new skills on them because they represented everything my parents weren't, most obviously, alive. But he was there, standing right beside me. I knew my place and I knew what would happen should I disobey him...' She hesitated, emotion close to the surface.

'They choose me to be their daughter. I left the home, but it was as if I was still there, because they made him my aid and he controlled my every waking moment, my training, my education my thoughts. In the end I could barely remember love and the feeling of my true parents embrace. The royal hug felt like ice in my veins. It wasn't long before he tried to hug me too'

'No' Lloyds face quivered with anger and sadness for the story that Harumi laid out for him.

'But he only tried once. He had not included this in his training and I was not compliant. He saw that this new desire might jeopardise his original and everything he had worked for, so he backed off. Though he waited in hope, believing one day I would finally give myself over to him completely. I believe that may be how all this started and how we have ended up here'

'The assassin?' Lloyd asked.

Harumi nodded 'He must have been watching me, watching us. Some things a man such as he cannot take and to have his prize taken from him by his enemy, well...'

'Just as I took your parents from you?'

'You didn't'

'Harumi...'

'You didn't. I truly see that now' She looked at Lloyd, with honesty in her eyes and he believed her completely 'and I see now that I am in love with you' Lloyd smiled 'as a little girl I loved you because you were the Green Ninja, a symbol of strength and hope and courage. And I love you now because you are still everything I believed the Green Ninja to be, including my saviour and a beautiful person who has only good in his heart... and it turns out you're hot as hell!'

'Rumiiii' Lloyd blushed, she laughed and kissed him on the cheek before turning away to jump in the boat.

'Right then! I'm glad I got that off my chest. Lets go! I've gotta say the Island's temper has calmed down a lot since we decided to leave' Harumi noted.

Lloyd followed and looking out into the wall of grey, realised she was right. The lightening's eager demonstrations had stopped and a frosty calm had taken its place. He pushed the boat into the water and jumped in 'do you know how to sail?' he asked.