A/N: OK FIRST OF ALL SORRY FOR PUTTING THE AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE BEGINNING (AGAIN) BUT PLEASE READ THIS

I honestly wasn't sure if I should even continue at this point because 

1, it's been so long since I posted the last chapter, 

2, this chapter needed major editing (if you remember, Harumi is about to tell everyone her backstory! and I thought I originally had everyone react too well to it), and 

3, I didn't know if anyone even still read this because of how bad I've been with posting, but tiredofthesamename commented about wanting an update and I thought, hey, if there's even one person who wants to read, then I'll do it (and I also really really like the ending I have)! So thank you for giving me motivation to post this because I don't think I would've otherwise and honestly this is good for me to actually finish something that I've started. 

My new goal is to finish posting the rest of this book before next semester. Hopefully it happens! 

Ok I'm done rambling sorry lol enjoy!

Morro's POV

"Oh, it's you," Ruby said with an eye roll as I walked into the room.

"Why so glum about it? If I were you, seeing me be a pleasure," I smirked, folding my arms across my chest and leaning against the doorframe. Then, dropping the fake cheery facade, I straightened up and uncrossed my arms, and continued, "What'd you call me in here for?"

"I've noticed you've opened up a makeshift hospital."

Pursing my lips, I narrowed my eyes and clenched my teeth. "What else was I going to do with those supplies after you so kindly took care of my problems for me? Forgot to mention, thank you," I added with as bitterness as I could muster.

"You're very welcome. Now, tell me more about this hospital."

"It's more like a nurse's office or whatever," I said, finding it harder and harder to hold her gaze.

"What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?"

"Can't I be kind and selfless without some external motivation? Besides, having healthy warriors is beneficial to our cause."

She raised her eyebrows. "I know you too well; you wouldn't be doing this unless it's for your own gain. Spill, Morro, I promise I won't get mad."

I stroked my chin as if in deep thought. "Let's see, pros: you, my dear Shadow Knight, won't murder me; cons: now that I think about it," I changed the tone of voice to sound more serious and believable, so that hopefully she'd buy the lie, "None? I don't understand, why are you so skeptical? Are you worried that if your warriors aren't in constant pain they'll stage a mutiny? None of us are threats against your power."

"Look who's talking, Power Boy," Ruby scoffed.

"I could give them up right now. I don't care," I said, throwing my arms up in fake exasperation, "I've had them for almost two weeks already and it's not like I've ever used them on you. I've told you all my plans, so I don't have anything to hide. And besides, you were the one who kissed―" still gross "me, so isn't that supposed to guarantee that I'm not going to betray you?" Apparently it didn't, but she didn't need to know that.

"You let your friends go," she replied coldly.

"I wasn't going to let them die," I yelled, feeling the emotions I'd long suppressed rising in my chest, "You think you can march around and just kill anyone and everyone, but let me tell you this: I can do whatever I want and you can't stop me. And if you want to kill me right now, do it and say goodbye to Ninjago."

Ruby opened her mouth, but I knew just what she was about to say before she even said it.

"What, was I supposed to tell you before I did it? We both know you would never allow such a thing, so what else was I going to do? I care about them, and if you have a problem with that, deal with it."

Before she could reply, I stormed out of the room, some part of me wondering if Ruby was going to murder me that very moment. She didn't.

I knew that acting this way was definitely ruining the impression she had of me, but who cared anymore? She was going to keep me around regardless, so I shouldn't worry about it. After all, I was still working for her... for now, at least.

Whatever, this was all going to end in a week anyway. I carefully picked up the cup of tea someone had prepared for me from my nightstand and took a sip.

Harumi's POV

"I... I have something to say," I mumbled, suddenly wishing I could disappear.

"Ooh ooh, lemme guess," Jay said between bites of bread, suddenly much more energetic after having gotten something to eat.

"Sure?" That came out more like a question.

"You... have lice in your hair. Did I get it right?" His eyes were a bright blue again, and I would've loved to be half as alive as he was.

Nya snorted into her bread, and I shrugged before breaking out into a smile, against my will. "Probably, but that's not what I was gonna say."

"Okay, okay, lemme guess again, I'll get it right this time!" Jay said enthusiastically, "You... actually I dunno. Go ahead."

"I haven't exactly been honest with you guys," I said. Though I hated people who always beat around the bush, I dreaded their shunning so much I was willing to stall for as long as possible.

"We won't get mad, promise," Nya smiled and put her hand on top of mine, "We need to stick together, remember, so we'll support you no matter what and I'm glad you're willing to share."

"I'm from Ninjago too," I blurted out, and immediately averted my gaze to the ground so I wouldn't have to see their faces.

Silence.

I wanted to look up to see their reactions but resisted, keeping my head lowered. I didn't want to see the way they tensed at this new information, the looks of betrayal I'd witnessed far too many times. The way their fragile trust in me crumbled in the blink of an eye.

"Okay," Zane said calmly after what seemed like an eternity, "Would you care to elaborate?"

The lack of emotion in his voice gave some small piece of me false hope, hope that they'd accept me for who I was. Even though I didn't deserve it. I shot it down. They'd hate me for this.

I wished they wouldn't.

They were still waiting for an answer.

"I'm a terrorist," I forced out, my eyes unwillingly flicking up.

Everyone's faces were unreadable. I wanted to die.

Quickly focusing my gaze back onto my tattered shoes, I took a deep breath.

"I used to adore the Ninja, and I saw them as heroes. But one day a giant snake tore through the city, and my parents sacrificed themselves to save me. I learned that Lloyd's father killed it and... then I worshipped him. At the time, he was a villain, but I didn't care. To me, it seemed as though the Ninja were the ones who failed to protect Ninjago. And I blamed them for my parents' deaths. Especially... Lloyd.

"I was eventually adopted by the emperor and empress. I hated the strict rules that came with being a princess, forced on me while I still hadn't recovered from the... event. I had to bury my feelings and be the perfect daughter. While I kept up the charade just as they asked, over time I became resentful and vowed to take revenge.

"At one point Garmadon was purified of his evil, and that ended my fascination with him. But when he died, I began devising a plan to resurrect his darker side and founded a biker gang―"

"Wait wait wait," Jay said, making me—and I cursed myself for it—instinctively look up at him, "I... I thought you were fourteen."

"Yes."

"You were the leader of a BIKER GANG at fourteen?"

"I formed it when I was twelve," I said numbly, hardly registering his words.

I wished he would stop talking so I could get this over with.

"W-what how? Is nobody else surprised?!" Jay asked.

Silence once more.

I took this as a sign to continue.

"When they were ready, I ordered an attack on the palace to get rid of my adopted parents. The Ninja took me in to protect me, not knowing I was behind everything, as I'd planned. I pretended to be interested in Lloyd so that he'd fall for me. All I wanted was for him to break and lose everything. Just like I did."

Someone kill me already.

"And I thought I'd succeeded, until Morro told me that everyone is still alive. And the only person that ended up dead," I gave an empty laugh, "is me. And I guess... I guess that's for the best."

When nobody spoke, I drew my pathetic, twig-like limbs closer together and forced my eyes shut so I wouldn't accidentally look up again.

I almost laughed at myself. God, why was I acting like the victim in this situation? Somehow, even now, I was making everything about me. How much I was suffering by making other people suffer. How painful it was for me to inflict pain on everyone who ever came across me.

How.

Pathetic.

Someone kill me already.

"I see that Morro knew about all this," Zane said, finally breaking the agonizing silence.

"He knew I was coming before I even came."

"How many other Ninjago people are here?" Nya asked, again, her voice ice cold.

"I think it's just us."

Nobody spoke.

Someone kill me already.

"Now someone tell me," Nya said with a bitter undertone after several minutes, "Who else has a deep, dark secret they've been keeping in after all this time?"

No answer.

"Is there a reason for why you waited this long to say something?" Zane asked, and if he had any opinions, I couldn't tell from his voice alone.

He was always so

Unreadable.

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from screaming.

The silence continued on until Lloyd announced that he'd keep watch tonight.

It was supposed to be my turn, but I understood why that might not be a good idea.

But I wasn't going to sleep anyway.

❧

I rubbed my arms, wishing the goosebumps would go away. Lloyd sat across from me, his eyes fixated on the flickering fire between us. While I did my best to avoid looking at anyone after my confession, one thing I noticed was their immediate step backwards whenever they noticed me watching.

I inwardly cursed. I'd looked for only a fraction of a second.

But I couldn't blame them, could I? Wasn't it natural for them to be on constant vigilance in the presence of a known terrorist? Wasn't I the one at fault for expecting them to react any differently? Wasn't it too much to hope for, to hope that they'd see who I truly "was," if I didn't even know that person myself?

I wished Morro was here.

And I hated myself for being so needy.

Why couldn't I have kept my mouth shut?

I suddenly found that I was angry, angry at them for suddenly becoming so defensive. They'd known me for this long, they should know that I wasn't going to attack them. And even if I did, it wasn't like it would be that hard to defend themselves, since I was so skinny and underfed that I probably couldn't land a blow if I tried.

Or maybe they thought I was simply lying. Because I'd done so for so many years before, who was to say I wasn't hiding under yet another mask right now?

Maybe I was the only person being fooled. By myself.

They knew.

They knew that people like me didn't change.

Even if some dumb prophecy said I was the supposed Chosen One.

Stupid prophecy.

It couldn't come true anyway, I should've known. Maybe it was all some elaborate prank. For me to realize how utterly

Rotten I was.

It said I was supposed to grieve, right? Yet Kai was dead, Cole was dead, and I didn't care.

Everyone could die and I wouldn't care.

I only cared about myself. Not Ruby. Not...

Not Morro, either.

It was all a lie I was telling myself to feel like there was something, anything, inside me.

Owls hooted in the distance as the crickets chirped, and I stared into the now-somewhat-dying fire. Maybe it would be a good idea to put it out at night in case anybody came hunting for us, but it got so cold in the woods at night that whoever was keeping guard was sure to get hypothermia otherwise.

And who even cared anymore if we all got hunted and died right here? I almost wanted it to happen.

I gave a shudder.

Lloyd got up and headed towards the tents, the leaves on the forest floor making a crunching sound with each step.

He's leaving me to die here.

Good. This should've happened long ago.

A thin, flimsy blanket fell over my shoulders.

Disobeying all the voices in my head screaming for me to not look, I whipped my head around to face him.

"You seemed cold," Lloyd mumbled, his face pink.

"Oh," I replied.

I should say thank you, but I emotionally, mentally, physically, couldn't.

He sat back down across from me.

"You don't have―" I stuttered, surprising myself.

"Hey hey," Lloyd said, holding up his hands, "Not doing this to try and gain your affection or whatever, I promise―" even in the light of the fire I could see a blush spreading across his cheeks "I just thought that, you know, this is basic human decency, and besides, you do look really cold, so a blanket would help, even if it isn't much. Sorry for the, uh, ramble."

Only then I realized I was huddled up into a ball as small as possible, but then again I wore nothing but a t-shirt and shorts, which wasn't the optimal clothing combination for a night in the forest.

I tried again to thank him but couldn't. Instead, I make some sort of weird gesture to imply that I was offering him the blanket, but he quickly waved me off.

"I'm good, don't worry about me."

"You sure?"

"Positive," Lloyd replied, flashing me a quick smile.

"You don't have to be so nice to me... or at all, for the matter."

"What do you mean?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Baffled, I blinked and stared at him for a few seconds to try and see any sign of joking. "What do you mean 'what do you mean?' I'm a murderer, a terrorist, and a necromancer. You don't―never mind."

Lloyd sighed. "One thing I've learned is that... you shouldn't judge people by their worst mistakes. There's always some sort of bigger picture most people aren't seeing, and even if that doesn't exactly paint them in the best light, I always try my best to understand where they came from. Yeah, you and Morro have both done some messed up things, but I can see that... you're trying. You're trying to make up for what you've done in the past, and though to some people that might not warrant forgiveness, and I totally understand that, but to me it's enough. Aren't you trying your best to save Ninjago? Even though you really have no connection to it anymore?"

When I said nothing, he continued. "It's easy to fall into a cycle of self-hatred for things like this, but... I think you can give yourself a bit more credit.

"Also I'm assuming you pretended to be into me?"

I felt my face heat up. "Sorry."

"I mean, I understand, and, ha, it's... it's nothing."

It clearly wasn't.

"I think it would be better for you to just... move on because nothing you can do is gonna change the past, but how others will perceive you in the future will be affected by what you do from this point onwards."

It would've been dead silent if it weren't for the crickets.

"The others will come around eventually, they just need to process things."

"I hope so," I said before my brain could react.

"Have faith in them. It'll be okay."

I nodded.

"If anything, they'll forgive and accept you more readily than normal. This whole thing has just... affected everyone a lot."

I almost laughed.

Talk about an understatement. 

A/N: Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this! Again, so so sorry for making you wait and I can't thank the people who stuck around enough for supporting me this whole time I don't deserve this... 

What are everyone's plans for the summer? I'm staying on campus (unfortunately I'm old and in college now) and attempting to self study some machine learning by watching old lecture recordings on YouTube and taking a personal finance class on edX because I don't know how to money lol. Also am going to start tour guiding sooo (luckily I don't have to learn to walk backwards because one thing I noticed about my school's tour guides is that we always stop, give a spiel, and then walk forward to the next place)

Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this! Any thoughts? I love engaging with you guys, it also helps me see if anyone is actually reading this lol so please vote/comment! 

See y'all in the next chapter!