Zane gasped, opening his eyes.

    "Hey...hey, Zane! You're awake!"

    Jay was dancing above him, covered in oil and wearing goggles on his forehead.

    "Wh...what happened?" The robot was surprisingly very tired, as if he'd run a mile.

    Jay stopped his dancing and seemed a bit...embarrassed. "Well, after we found you in your room, Kai and I brought you here, to mine, so I could repair your damaged parts. But, it seems I was a complete idiot and didn't attach the wire to your new heart right so the excess power flooded into open air." He scratched the back of his head. "I swear, if I wasn't the Master of Lightning and immune to electricity, I would've been shocked over a thousand times trying to fix it. I didn't want to shut you off again."

    Zane was still stuck on one thing, though. "Damaged...parts?"

     The comedic ninja's mood darkened. "When we found you in your room, you were still hooked up to that battery. We all thought you'd...anyway, we know about you electrocuting yourself. I figured it out after I opened your chest panel and found fried wires even though I knew you'd manually shut yourself down. You could've really hurt yourself, Zane."

    The metal man looked away, turning his head and closing his eyes. "That was the point."

    He could hear Jay's voice, though. It was shaky now, like he was about to cry. "You...you were really...really gonna do it? If...if P.I.X.A.L. hadn't–"

    Zane cut him off, looking directly at him again. "How did you know it was P.I.X.A.L.?"

    Jay actually cracked a smile. "Who else could it've been? She knows you best; she lives in your head. And it's been excruciatingly obvious you two love each other, ever since you met in Borg Industries. You could never hurt her, or leave her."

    Zane would've blushed if he were able. Jay was right, but instead of saying that out loud, he decided to change the subject. "Uh...why am I duct taped to this table?"

    It was Jay's turn to blush, embarrassed again. "Oh, uh, you started freaking out after I turned you back on. You were shaking really badly, and then your gears stopped...but that was just because of my stupidity. I had to strap you down so I could look around."

    The Blue Ninja helped him out of the sticky substance. Zane sat up and swung both feet over the edge.

    Before he slid off, however, he had to ask. "How long was I out?"

    Jay thought about that for a minute before replying. "About twenty-four hours now."

    Zane looked closer at him, and, now that he had, the Ice Ninja could the dark bags under the mechanic's eyes. "Jay, when was the last time you slept?"

    Now that the Titanium Ninja was no longer in danger, the adrenaline was fading and Jay was practically falling asleep on his feet. "Nm, 'bout...yesterday?  Night...before we found you."

    Zane hopped off the table and stumbled. His legs weren't quite stable yet. After a moment of leaning heavily on the table, he stood and slowly walked toward his friend. "You need sleep, brother. Let me help you."

    "Nnnm."

    The metal man placed a hand on the mechanic's shoulder and shook slightly. Jay's head rolled back, revealing his closed eyes. The noises he kept making was his light snoring. He had literally fallen asleep standing.

    Zane couldn't help but smile. Gently, as to not wake the sleep-deprived Ninja, he picked him up and carried him to his bed, shoving off various machinery before setting him down and pulling the covers up. Jay immediately curled up on his side and grabbed a wrench Zane hadn't seen and hugged it like a teddy bear.

    "Sweet dreams, Jay."

___________________________________________________________________________________

Zane closed the door to his own room. Before he went to go meet with the others, he had to check something.

    "P.I.X.A.L.?"

    Silence. His female counterpart didn't respond. He nearly panicked, thinking he'd lost her.

    "I'm here."

    "Oh, thank goodness." He slid down the wall till he was sitting on the floor.

    "Yes, I'm fine. It just took me a bit longer to power back on, since I'm not an original part of you design. I'm an...upgrade, in a sense."

    "You're a part of me all the same. I couldn't go on without you."

    "I know."

    There was a comfortable silence, each basking in the presence of the other.

    "You should go talk to the others."

    "I know. Not yet. We pretty much just woke from a coma. I'd rather not deal with the emotion and questions at the moment."

    "You can't hide from them forever."

    "I'm not trying to."

    "Yes, you are. Do you forget I'm living in your head?"

    Zane pursed his lips. It was useless hiding from her. She already knew, anyway. "I'm scared, P.I.X.A.L. Scared of what they'll think. I don't even know what Jay thinks. He was half asleep through our conversation. I...I just don't want to face them; to learn what they think of me now. If they think I'm weak or not."

    "Zane, we're in this together. If you think you can't handle it, you can walk away and be alone for a bit."

    Zane mouth twitched in a half-smile. "But I don't want to be alone. I want to be with you. You always know exactly what to say."

    A sudden warmth in the back of his head told him everything. "Thank you. Now please, go talk to them."

    "Alright."

    He stood up, moving slowly, still reluctant to face his fellow Ninja and Sensei.

    "Come on, Zane. You've known and fought beside them for years now. They won't bite."

    "I don't know. Kai is infamous for his fiery temper."

    "I can't tell if you're joking or not."

    Zane smiled. "See? You always know what to say."

    He grabbed a hold of the handle of his door, and after a small hesitation and a nudge from P.I.X.A.L., he opened it, and made his way through the tea shop towards the training area, where he knew they'd be.

    When he first stepped into the sun, he blinked, cringing away from the light after being in the dark for so long, but once he was used to it, he couldn't help but smile.

    No one had noticed him standing there yet. Kai was spontaneously combusting, lighting the occasional item on fire, which his sister Nya, using her newfound water abilities, quickly put out.

    Cole was off on his own, concentrating. Suddenly, he disappeared and reappeared in a flash. It wasn't much, but the ghost grinned like that was the greatest success he's had.

Sensei Wu was also on his own, meditating, it looked like. Out of nowhere, and surprising Zane, he opened his eyes and gasped, staring directly at him.

    Gradually, the other Ninja stopped what they were doing and stared him. It began to make the metal man uncomfortable, and he almost ducked back inside, when all four of them mobbed him.

    First was Kai. "Zane, you're alright!" The Fire Ninja gave him short hug, while Cole almost knocked him over. Though he was a ghost, he still had his super strength.

    "Good to see you up and about again, buddy," the Earth Ninja said, a huge smile plastered on his face.

    Nya gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and Zane's lips twitched when he heard P.I.X.A.L. grumbling to herself in the back of his head. "It's nice to see you again, Zane."

    Last was Sensei. The other Ninja parted to let him through. The Ice Ninja cringed away slightly.

    Then, Wu did something he never expected. He enveloped him in a hug. Zane returned it, slightly shocked. This was not the reaction he expected.

    "I told you."

    Zane was happy to let the female droid be right. But, someone was missing. Someone important.

    "Where's Lloyd?"

    Suddenly, the ground seemed very interesting as Nya, Kai, and Cole all looked down. Only Sensei was brave enough to tell him.

    "My nephew has locked himself in his room. He believes you almost...doing what you planned is his fault. He'll only let Misako to see him."

    Zane was shocked. "What? No, none of this is his fault. It isn't any of your faults. If anything it's mine. I must go see him."

    Before he let them utter another word he took off toward the quarters of the Green Ninja.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Zane knocked on the door tentatively. He was afraid of Lloyd's reaction more than ever now that he knew he thought it was his fault. He waited outside for what seemed like ages before Misako opened the door.

    She gasped when she saw it was him, and covered her mouth with her hand. She opened the door wider, allowing him to enter.

    Lloyd was wrapped in his sheets, his blond hair a mess and his eyes closed. He was very clearly awake, though. He kept turning over and over in his blankets, causing the Green Ninja to get more tangled.

    "He won't let anyone in here but me," Misako whispered to him. "Even so, he still won't let me talk to him. I'm worried. Maybe seeing you will jar him out of it."

    Zane nodded once and approached the bed. Lloyd still had his eyes shut tight. The Titanium Ninja gently shook his shoulder. Lloyd groaned, and flipped over on to his other side, no longer facing him.

    "Go away, Mom," he mumbled into his pillow. "I don't wanna talk."

    "Lloyd, it's me."

    His eyes flew open and he sat up, mouth open, and just looked at him. He was dressed in his green-stripped pajama's, and half of his hair was flat from being slept on.

    Lloyd reached out a hand to touch him, as if afraid he wasn't really there, but stopped himself, drawing his hand back.

    "Is...is it really you, Zane?"

    Zane gave him a half-smile. "Yes. I'm here."

    Suddenly, the Green Ninja's mood flipped, and his eyes darkened. He tackled Zane, pinning him to his bedroom floor. The robot didn't react, and held up a hand to stop Misako from rushing over to them. Lloyd needed to vent his feelings out.

    "Why would you even think that was a good idea?" Lloyd started to cry, but he ignored the tears and continued to talk. "You almost killed yourself, Zane! You could've died!"

    He sniffed. "I want to know why you resorted to that. 'Cause the way I heard it that night after the others told me it was my fault. I didn't mean to cause you pain. I didn't even know I was. I guess that makes me a bad brother...but I don't want it to happen again, bad brother or not. I need to know!"

    Zane spoke softly; contrasting to Lloyd's frantic yelling. "It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was mine. I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of leader that I felt fell to me when you left. I saw no other way out. It helped for a while, but, in the end, it caused more harm than good."

    "So, basically..." Lloyd paused. "If I never left, none of this would've happened. It's still my fault."

    "No, it probably would've happened even if you never left. Even when you are home, you aren't always around to lead. They just automatically default to me."

    The Green Ninja helped him up. It was clear he was thinking on what he said. "Alright," he said after a while. "I still believe it is partially my fault, but, I guess, as long as you're here and well it doesn't really matter."

    Zane smiled. "Now why don't you get dressed and we can go meet the others. It's almost lunchtime."