The book title is kinda fitting for the current situation; I've been fairly busy and haven't been able to update in a while... so just a couple of announcements before you get to read the next chapter:

One of my favourite artists here, Jeleego , has actually drawn Jay and Abby in their suits 🥰 (please check out her amazing Ninjago artbook!).

I, on the other hand, can't draw to save my life, so I've simply taken a photo of them as LEGO minifigures. Had to cheat a bit though, because I don't have the ZX. And I don't have two of Jay's suits which are the same (Jay has the Techno Robe and Abby the gi from DotD, just with short legs). Also, I wanted to show their faces and hair so I've used only the mask instead of the full hood (which is what they will have in this chapter anyway).

Also, one reader has raised the good question how Skybound could have happened without Jay around. Just to confirm that seasons 4-7 have taken place in this AU, just slightly differently. Some bits are going to be revealed through flashbacks, but would you be interested in reading a summary?

If you're reading my one shot book, you can still suggest an outfit for Jay for the third part of 'Movie Night'.

And finally, the flashback scene for this chapter comes from one of those many one shot ideas that I've never gotten around to write...

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Chapter 25 (Jay)

Seven years ago, after 'The Green Ninja', Destiny's Bounty

"Keep still, squirt." I tell the newest – and shortest – hero in town. "I don't want to hurt you."

Seriously, pinning two extra arms to Lloyd's old skeleton hoodie wouldn't be hard at all if the kid could just stop squirming for a single second...

"I would if you stopped tickling me." The kid complains.

I sigh. "And I wouldn't be tickling you if you weren't moving as much." I retort, glancing up to send a silent call for help to my robotic teammate. But the lack of response as well as the small smirk on the white Ninja's face suggests that he has activated his humour switch and is very much enjoying watching my struggles – while pretending to be busy with his own work.

Having rescued the little green Ninja from the Serpentine on the day before the Day of the Departed means we haven't got a costume for the boy, but under no circumstances do we want our new teammate to feel left out. Especially as he has never celebrated this – or, in fact, any other – holiday. Apparently, back at Darkley's they have always played tricks at each other and never gotten any treats, so Hallowe'en really wasn't anything special.

And the idea of threatening people to give him candy – without the risk of ending up on a signpost – must be particularly appealing to the former bad boy.

"Alright, this should be it." I finally say. "Have a quick look at the mirror if the extra arms are at the right height - and especially the same height. Then you can take off your jumper, but carefully. I still need to properly sew them on."

Right now, our whole team is working on a makeshift costume for Lloyd in time for the celebrations – and the candy, of course – by transforming his old outfit into a small version of his father.

My mum of course would have never let me leave home without me knowing some basic household skills, like cooking, doing the laundry (although I have to admit that I usually take my stuff whenever I visit my parents), doing repairs (obviously), as well as a bit of knitting and sewing.

Which means I've been assigned to adding two extra arms to his hoodie. I'm currently sharing a workspace, aka our dining table, with Zane. As Lloyd's old pants were scorched (and rather smelly), the Master of Ice needs to shorten and tighten a pair of our old black training pants that we used to wear before Kai joined our team.

So much has happened, yet it almost feels like only yesterday that it was only Cole, Zane and myself. And now we're already five Ninja. And let's not forget our strong and beautiful Samurai.

Ah, Nya... Thinking about my amazing girlfriend always brings a little smile to my face. I still can hardly believe my luck to call her that. And, despite her dislike of dresses, she's even agreed to do couple's costumes for Hallowe'en, I just can't wait to see her dressed up.

But unfortunately, I do have to wait a bit longer. Right now, she and Kai are down in the workshop, modifying one of her Samurai X helmets, while Cole – the most artistic one of us – is making a face mask for Lloyd.

"Here you go." I hand the finished top to the blond boy. Without a squirming child inside, it has indeed been a lot easier and faster to work on. "Gotta run and get ready as well now."

I head to the bunkroom and get changed into my costume. Oh, I am so excited. But just as I am applying some soot – curtesy of the Fire Ninja – to my face, the Bounty's alarm goes off.

Great. Those Serpentine can never give us a break, can they?

I immediately head to the bridge where I find all my teammates are already there.

My heart skips a beat when I see Nya in her slim long red coat, wearing the cute black hat embellished with white daisies on her head. I just knew she would make the prettiest Mary Poppins Ninjago has ever seen.

Her face lights up when she sees me. "Looking good, Bert." She states, causing me to blush.

"Uhm..." I honestly have no words to describe how stunning she looks.

"Unfortunately, we have to reschedule our celebrations." Sensei Wu announces, making five teenagers plus one kid groan in annoyance. 'Rescheduling' Hallowe'en means we won't get to go trick or treating for another whole year! "The Serpentine are causing trouble at the parade."

"I guess duty calls..." Cole sighs. He hands the finished mask to a visibly disappointed Lloyd. "Sorry, kiddo."

"But... if we're going to the parade anyway, can't we at least wear our costumes?" I request, with a side-glance at Lloyd. "Like... uhm... an undercover mission?"

"As long as you can fight in your outfits, I see no reason why not." Sensei agrees. Yes!

Us guys grab our Golden Weapons. "Ninja-gooo." We shout, but just as we're about to storm off, Sensei has to ruin the fun once again.

"Wait." He calls after us. "Not you, nephew."

What?

"B-but..." The boy's lips trembles, and Nya immediately pulls him into a comforting side hug.

"I have a different mission for you." Wu explains with a smile. "Your friends have put a lot of effort into your costume; you should reward them by collecting some treats to share with them, don't you think?"

"I-I do." The young Garmadon nods eagerly.

"Very good." Sensei states. "But, of course, you should not go on your own. And I know just the right person to accompany you..." He glance shifts to the 'real' Dark Lord who has been watching our discussion with feigned disinterest. "Don't you agree, brother?"

Present Day, Cliff Gordon's mansion

"Bye, mum!" As we walk down the footpath that leads us to the main road, Abby stops and turns back to wave at her mother.

Nya has kindly offered to stay back at the house and hand out treats, while our daughter and I are doing the tour around our neighbourhood. We are both wearing our matching uniforms, although we've taken off the masks. Only Abby is wearing a bandana covering the lower half of her face.

"Bye, sweetie." Nya waves back. "Have fun. And bring me some treats, will you?"

"Sure, mum." The girl promises. "Love ya."

"Careful, Abby." I say as she skips up (or down, for that matter) to me. When I went shopping this morning, I bought a couple of red lanterns to light up the garden, but the old cobblestone path still is rather steep and slippery. I don't want her to fall and get hurt – and especially not on the first time that I get to watch her on my own outside of school – so I take her small hand into mine and safely guide her the rest of the way.

When we reach the bottom of the path and walk out the gate, I see that the street is already quite buzzing with (young and old) children, even though it is still early in the evening. But of course, my birth father's mansion is located in one of the richest parts of Ninjago City, so the neighbourhood is very popular for trick or treating. Many kids from other parts of town come here for the fancier treats; this afternoon Mrs Miller and I spent the best of two hours filling small party bags with different kind of sweets.

Luckily, this also means that we should be able to fill Abby's bright orange pumpkin shaped bucket in no time.

If the girl takes as much after me as Nya and the others claim, she will refuse to return home unless she has collected enough candy to even last Lloyd for a whole year – but let's not forget that she is still a small child who gets easily exhausted from walking around.

Also, Abby has been so excited both about both her first 'real' Hallowe'en and her and Nya staying over at my place that she has refused to take a nap today or sleep in the car on the way here, so she will definitely be tired tonight.

Despite the spacious estates surrounding the luxurious mansions, our first destination isn't far to walk at all, we just need to cross the street. The McCarthys are a friendly elderly couple, some of the few people here that I've actually interacted with beyond exchanging just some polite but meaningless greetings.

As we approach the gate, I can feel Abby tensing up. She's nervous, and even more so when she sees that most parents wait outside the fence and their children walk up to the house on their own.

"Can you come with me, daddy?" She asks shyly.

"Of course, Abby." I flash her an encouraging smile. "And no need to be afraid. You're gonna do great."

"O-okay." She nods. I help her ring the bell before I take a step back and let my daughter take centre stage.

"Twick or Tweat." Abby yells loudly – a bit too loudly – as soon as the door opens.

"Oh my." Mrs McCarthy gasps, dramatically putting her hands on her chest. She used to be an actress herself. Not as famous as my father though, but still very convincing. "You've scared me, little girl. And I thought the Ninja are supposed to protect us and not to trick us..."

"They are." Abby proudly puffs her chest, before she adds in a quiet voice. "But can I still get candy?"

"Oh, of course, dearie." My neighbour assures her. "You deserve an extra big treat for that."

"Yay." Abby beams at her. "Thank you."

Before she closes the door, the lady's gaze falls on me. "Oh, Mr Gordon." She exclaims. "I almost didn't recognise you in your costume."

Well, it seems that people really don't associate me with the blue Ninja anymore. Which is exactly what I wanted when I left the team, changed my name and became a teacher, so why does it upset me now?

"Good evening, Mrs McCarthy." I smile at her. "And don't worry, I'm not the main person tonight." I place my hand on my girl's shoulder. "Abby is."

"And what a cutie she is." Mrs McCarthy says. "I didn't know you have a little niece."

"Uhm... she isn't my niece..." I blush.

"He's my dad." Abby informs her.

"Oh..." My neighbour's face falls. She knows I only turned 24 a few weeks ago – she and her husband have given me a very expensive looking and still unopened bottle of French wine for my birthday – so it hasn't taken her long to do the maths. "What about... her mother?"

"My mummy is at daddy's house." Abby tells her. "She needs to give the sweets to the otha kids."

"I hadn't seen my ex-girlfriend in over six years." I explain. "So I didn't even know about my daughter. We only met again a few weeks ago, at school."

"My daddy's a teacher." Abby pipes up.

"I know, sweetie." Mrs McCarty replies. "And I bet he's a great teacher."

"The best." Abby states. "An' Miss Katherine."

"Ah, lovely Miss Dashner." The former actress briefly met Katherine when my injured friend was staying at my place around last Christmas. "How is she doing?"

"Much better." I answer, not wanting to go into detail in front of my girl. "She's visiting her family for midterm."

"Please give her my regards." Mrs McCarthy requests. "And to your mother." She smiles at Abby.

"What's regards?" My little Ninja wants to know. "Is this like a tweat? Mummy said I should bwing her some candy."

My neighbour laughs. "Oh, then I'd better give you some more."

Barely half an hour later, I am carrying lots of candy and a tired little girl back up the cobblestone path.

As expected, the combination of some very rich people – most of which know me (or have at least seen my face around the area) – plus Abby's adorableness means it really hasn't taken us long to fill the bucket and the large shopping bag one of my neighbours has given us.

We stop in front of the main door. "You remember the plan?" I quietly ask Abby as I set her down. I ring the bell when she nods.

"TRICK OR TREAT." We shout together when the door opens.

"You're already back?" Nya gasps in surprise. "I don't think you can fit any more treats though. Looks like you were quite successful."

"Very much so." I reply.

"That's great. And did you have fun?" Nya asks our daughter.

"I did." Abby grins. "I met some of daddy's fwieds. An' I hafta give some rewards to you."

Nya raises an eyebrow. "Rewards?"

"My neighbour has asked to give her regards to you." I explain.

"It's not candy." Abby adds. "But I got some of that for you as well."

"I think you got enough to last all of us until at least Christmas." Nya remarks.

"Can I pwease have some?" Abby requests. "I'm staaaving."

"You always are." Nya laughs. "You can have one piece now, and another one after dinner."

"Dinner shouldn't take long either." I assure her. We're having pizza, and I'd already prepared the dough and tomato sauce earlier, before the girls' arrival. "Do you maybe want to help me? Then it's gonna be even faster. And you can choose your own toppings."

"I like cheese." Abby tells me. "And olives."

"Alright." I nod. "Let me just quickly freshen up, then we can get started."

"An' I needa go to the toilet." Abby, suddenly wide awake again, zooms up the stairs.

"There's also one down here." I call after her, but she's already disappeared in her room.

"Sounds like you two have had quite an adventure." Nya gently places her hand on my arm. "Thank you for taking her, it has really meant a lot to Abby to have a somewhat normal Hallowe'en."

"Thank you for letting me." I smile at her. "It really means a lot to me to spend tonight with you two. But I guess I now have a hungry little Ninja to feed, so I'd better wash my hands and get changed and..."

"Why do you want to get changed?" Nya wonders. Of course, she is used to wearing her gi – and she was used to me wearing mine – most of the time. "You can stay in your gi, I really li- uhm, I don't mind seeing you like this." She adds, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"Yeah, why not?" I shrug, trying to appear unimpressed by her compliment. But I guess I'm failing absolutely miserably.