Everything had been changing so fast. First, Emily showed up on the doorstep with a plan hidden in her appearance. Then, Alyssa had transformed into someone I can't even remember. And lastly, Ninjago was falling apart with the frequent attacks of someone we can't even place. Nothing was right, everything was changing. It's like the island I was trapped on for over a year was better company than what I had now. 

It was changing.

Time was changing.

For three hours and forty-seven minutes, I paced around my room while practicing what I could say to my parents if I had the chance to see them. I was quickly changing my mind and rescrambling my words to create the perfect monologue. 

But it changed, over and over. Every letter, every word, every line, every paragraph. It was changing.

And now, I stood before my father in the very room I learned to play piano with a silly cloak over my head so I wouldn't reveal myself as the daughter people had been grieving for a year and two months. It had been one month since my return to Ninjago and I was still trying to catch up on all that I had missed. I was disappointed in the negative change my once beautiful home had endured. 

I didn't even know people loved me as much as they did. I was the black and silver ninja, but no one knew that. I was the kunoichi, but no one knew that. I was a singer, that they knew. That's all I was. I certainly wasn't famous, I wasn't even paid attention to. I was directed to be someone else. So why would someone mourn over someone they didn't know?

Everything was changing.

My father cleared his throat and held a teacup in his hands, filled with chamomile deliciousness. I nodded slightly and accepted the generous offer, taking a sip to let memories fill me. 

I was taken back to the day I returned from school and there sat Cole with his three friends in the living room as if he had never left. It was a fantastic day that I dreamt of nearly every day on the island. It was that dream that gave me hope that there would be a better tomorrow. A change. I wanted things to change on the island.

But now I don't. 

Everything is changing.

I saw a flash of someone walk in front of me and I was drawn back into reality as my father sat down on the chair across from me. His eyes didn't divert to the piano like they usually did. There was no desire to hop to his feet and play.

The man across the room was not my father. He was a stranger, just like I was. And I didn'thave the faintest idea on how to approach a stranger.

"What was your first question?" my father wondered, his eyes searching underneath my black hood that covered my head. I was tempted to pull it down and reveal myself, but I knew that was something I could never do so suddenly. My father needed to be prepared.

"When Emma first approached you with the fact that she was a ninja, and more so, a kunoichi, what was your reaction? Were you much displeased?" I questioned carefully, trying to guide my father to an understanding.

He froze in his chair, his shoulders tensing and his mouth parting slightly as he looked upon me in shock. "How do you know such a thing?" he demanded. 

I hesitated. 

Everything was changing. Everything could be changing. And I hesitated. Of all times, I hesitated now. In the most important of times, it was now.

"Would you be angry if Emma had been back in Ninjago for a month and hid it from you?" I continued, refusing to answer his question until I knew mine. "She is my daughter, and she will never not be," he replied softly, looking down at his hands that used to grace the piano so magically.

Tears slipped down my cheeks and I could feel a lump rising in my throat. With courage and a quick decision, I opened my mouth with something I would never be able to take back. 

"I was so scared without you, dad," I choked out, my hand reaching up to pull down my hood.

My dark brown hair cascaded down my back and shivers shot up and down my spine in fear about what my father would say. I could hear his voice crack as he stuttered, also unsure of what to say.

"Dad, everything is changing, please, help me," I whimpered, watching as he stood and stepped over to me, one hand reaching out slowly as to touch my arm to see if I was real. After his fingers made contact with skin, tears welled in his eyes and a small smile grazed his lips. 

He rested both hands on my elbows and sucked in a breath before wrapping his arms around me and hugging me close to him. I held him tight and neither of us let go. We both needed each other.

Everything was changing.

But maybe it wasn't too bad.