The ninja all loved Zane, and relied on him more than they realized. So when he died, it felt like a big part of each of them died.

Kai felt the loss the hardest. It was Zane who always cooled him down and showed him some sense when he lost his temper, but now that he wasn't there to support him, Kai felt helpless and very unstable. The fire raging inside him now felt uncontrollable. That's why he went to the fighting club. It helped him let out his anger, and of course numb his grief.

By instinct, Cole returned to his old best friend, Nature. It used to fill him with hope, excitement, and determination with its beauty and seemingly endlessness. Now it gave him some comfort. He went to the North woods. It was snowy there, and it felt closer to Zane. Also the exercise and helping people gave him the feeling of fulfillment. Sometimes he would talk out loud "to Zane," and "tell" him how much he missed him and everyone else.

Zane and the others would always laugh at Jay's jokes, so (even though it broke his heart to leave Nya, and he missed everyone in general), the audience and fame gave him some of the attention he craved.

Zane's death made Nya realize that there was tragedy in the world, and it put her little dilemma into perspective, making it look silly in comparison. So she took her thoughts off Jay and Cole, and in firm dedication to Zane, aimed toward making herself a better Samurai X.

That seemed to leave a lot of time for the rest of them to train, and when they weren't training, they would hang out. It was a fun group. Nya would tease Lloyd, who would blush, and the girls would giggle.

"I wish I could hug Zane," Nya said one day.

"Me too," Lloyd sighed. So Kylie would tackle them both with hugs and squeeze them until they told her to stop.

Both Wu and Garmadon helped Kylie through her grief. They often guided her through meditation sessions, allowing her to heal and grow intrapersonally. Sometimes one of the senseis would take her and Nya on "mental health walks",  where they'd just go walk in a local nature trail. It was good bonding and healing time. Somehow it made Kylie feel connected to her mother.

Finally she started training with both Garmadon and Wu. It took a while since she wasn't the most kinesthetic in the group, but she got into it eventually. After a couple months, she completed the training course.

8 months passed.

8 months of waiting, praying, crying, training, growing, and hoping.

And the three of them occasionally going into the city to fight crooks, but that was about it. Finally Wu had enough, and sent Lloyd to get the rest of the team back together. Of course Kylie and Nya were dying to go, but Lloyd said it was "a job for the Green Ninja."

"I'll bring them home," he told them. "You'll see them all by tonight, I'm sure of it."

🌱🌱🌱

The two senseis and two girls were eating dinner when they heard you-know-who come inside. Nya pressed her hand over her mouth in emotion.

"Is it..." Kylie gasped. They all ran to the door, and there they were. 

An involuntary Kai, blushing Cole, almost-crying Jay, and a very proud Green Ninja.

"Oh my gosh-" Nya ran to Kai and jumped on him, hugging him. She pulled away, wiping away a stray tear. "I missed you."

Kylie was giving the other two a hug, squeezing them and resting her head on their chests. Nya also gave Jay and Cole each a hug, which resulted in them glaring at each other.

"It is good to have you all back," Garmadon said.

"Yes," Wu agreed.

"Yup," Lloyd smiled proudly. Nya laughed, then sighed contentedly, gazing at them. Kylie clapped her hands rapidly and let out an excited "Eee!"

"Well, are we gonna come in or what?" Lloyd asked, and they all went into the dining room and sat around the table.

Conversation was easy and light, and there was almost never too long of a moment of silence.

"It's good to be back," Cole said, "even though I like my job better than being around Jay."

"Hey!" Jay whined.

"I'm kidding!" Cole laughed. "I missed you. All of you."

"I missed everybody too," Jay sighed. Agreement sounded around the table.

"Who's up for a movie night?" Jay suggested.

🌱🌱🌱

Half an hour later (after they helped clean up from dinner, like the senseis said), everyone piled into the living room. Kylie sat between Jay and Cole on pillows on the floor in front of the stool in front of the couch (that was a mouthful, sorry lol). Kai sat between Lloyd and Nya on the couch, resting his head on Nya's shoulder and the back of the couch, because he was tired and had a headache. He fell asleep within 20 minutes of the movie.

Nya was sitting behind Cole which made Jay complain: "How come I have to be the farthest from you?"

Nya gave him a look, and he shut up. 5 minutes into the movie she leaned down and whispered to him that she wasn't going to focus on that stuff anymore since none of them could handle it. Jay then left to cry for a minute in the bathroom. However, when he got back he talked constantly through the movie and almost gave spoilers but Kylie and Cole told him not to.

When the saddest part happened, everyone that was awake cried (mostly because a lot of them hadn't cried in a while, and they were bottling stuff up).

By the end, both senseis were asleep in their recliners. Kai was also still asleep, so Jay dumped water on his head.

"Hey!" he shouted, sputtering. "That's cold!"

Everyone laughed, and Garmadon woke up. "A little heated, Kai?"

Chuckles.

"Heh, Wu's snoring," Garmadon chuckled.

More laughter.

"See, wasn't that a good movie?" Jay said, stretching.

"Nope," Kai said.

"Yeah, it was good," Kylie said, as the others laughed at Kai.

🌱🌱🌱

They scattered after that, some to bed and some to other destinations.

Nya found Cole a few minutes after the movie and pulled him aside. "Hey, so you know the whole thing between... about me choosing Jay or you?"

"Yeah?" Though it was a tender subject, Cole's reaction was surprisingly calm.

"So... none of us have been able to handle it well, and after... Zane, I've realized it was really... immature. So I'm not going to focus on that anymore. Ok?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's not something either of us did, is it?"

"Of course not. It's just... it was so silly. And it's time it stopped."

"I agree," Cole sighed.

"So... just friends?"

"Just friends," he smiled. "You're right, Nya, it was really immature of us. I just hope- Jay-"

"He'll be fine. You'll both be fine. I already told him."

"Ok. Thanks, Nya."

"Yup!" she squeaked.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she smiled at him and walked away.

Cole sighed. It's good to have a fresh start, he thought. So good. He had to tell somebody. Kai. As Cole walked in, Kai hid something in a drawer.

"What do you want?" Kai groaned.

"Sorry, I just want to tell you something."

"What?" The fire ninja sat on his bed and stared at him.

"You know the whole thing with Nya between me and Jay?"

"Yeah."

"She called it off! She said it was immature and we couldn't handle it!"

"You sure sound happy about it. That's good, right?"

"Yeah! Now we won't be fighting over her all the time!"

"That's for sure," Kai scoffed. "But aren't you sad about it?"

"I mean, a little, but it's just a relief. I was sick of the whole thing myself."

"That's great. Happy for you, really. Now go away; I'm busy.

"Ok, grumpy." Cole headed for the door, but paused mid-step. "Kai?"

"What."

"Are you sure about this whole invitation thing?

"What about it?"

"I don't know, it just... it feels wrong. Dishonest. We could get hurt, or worse! We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into!"

"Cole, look," Kai glared at him, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile. "You're overreacting. We're ninja, and we've got each other. We gotta do it to get Zane back, ok?"

"Ok," Cole agreed reluctantly.

"Now get outta here," Kai almost growled.

"Ok, ok. Thanks, Kai."

"Sure. Leave."

Cole left, chuckling. He ran into Kylie. "Oh, uh, sorry," he apologized.

"You're good." She started to walk away, but he thought of something.

"Hey, Kylie, you like stars, right?"

"Umm, yeah," she stopped and turned to face him.

"Well, it's clear skies right now, and-"

"Stargazing?" she interrupted excitedly.

"Yeah...?" he suggested timidly.

"I'd love it! It's cold out, right?"

"Yeah, so maybe grab a blanket."

"Ok!"

They turned and walked away. "Is anyone else coming?" she asked. He turned around. 

"Uhh, did you want anyone else to come?" 

"I don't care, just wondering."

"K."

🌱🌱🌱

Kylie walked outside with her favorite fuzzy blanket wrapped around her. She looked around the courtyard, but Cole wasn't there. "Cole?" she called.

"Up here," she heard him call down. Looking up, she saw him on the roof.

"Oh, hi. How do I get up?"

"Here, take my hand." He leaned over the roof and held down his hand. She tossed her blanket onto the roof before grabbing his hand. He almost threw her onto the roof, but made her land on top of him. She quickly crawled off.

"S-sorry," he apologized. "I didn't want to smash you onto the roof."

"You're good," she chuckled.

"Here's your blanket." He handed it to her.

"Thanks." She wrapped it around herself, then laid back. Cole did the same, folding his hands behind his head.

"Wow," Kylie breathed. On a clear night like this far from the city, millions of stars could be seen.

"I know, right?" Cole sighed.

"I'm so glad you're back."

"Me too," Cole replied, bearing through the fact that they'd all be gone the next morning. It's to get Zane, he reminded himself.

"I missed you," her voice cut into his thoughts.

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah. This is the only family I have now, and to me, you're a big part of it."

He never expected those words from her. "Wow. I'm glad. I'm glad to be part of your family, Kylie. And I'm glad we have you."

"Thanks." Even though he couldn't see her face, he heard her smile. They fell into talk about the constellations, until Cole realized it was probably time to get ready to go.

One more thing.

"What if... there was a way for us to get Zane back?" he asked her.

"That would be wonderful, but isn't that impossible? He's... destroyed. He can't exist anymore."

"I know, I know, but I was thinking, you know how everything's so high tech nowadays?"

"Yeah..."

"There's probably some way out there to... I dunno, sorta make him again?"

"I guess. Sounds creepy." It was obvious by her voice that she didn't think he was serious, or that it could ever possibly happen.

"Yeah, I dunno. I guess I'm just desperate."

"No, it's ok. It's good to hope," she affirmed.

Cole smiled at her words.

"I'm cold," he told her. "I think I'm gonna go in."

"Ok, me too."

They let themselves down from the roof, then walked inside.

"Goodnight," she whispered to him before going into her bedroom.

"Goodnight," he whispered back.

"Actually, Cole- can I give you a hug?"

"Uhh, yeah." He was surprised and happy at the offer. Especially since he didn't know when, or even if, he'd see her again.