Liv's P.O.V.:

I woke up to my phone ringing and it was a number I didn't recognize. Usually I just ignore those because of Jett and the fear that he would find me, but I felt compelled to answer this time.

"Hello?" I picked up.

"Hi, this is Dianne from hospice, am I speaking with Olivia Benson?" A lady said.

"Yes."

"I'm calling on behalf of my patient, Craig Benson."

"Wait, my father? How did he even know my new number?"

"He hired a private investigator to track you down." She explained.

"Ok whatever. Well tell him I'm changing my number again because I don't want him anywhere near me."

"Ok I will, but he asked me to ask you if you wanted to see him before he dies." She said.

"Do I have to?"

"No, it's up to you." She said. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"How long does he have?"

"My guess is a couple weeks."

"Let me guess, he's been nothing but a jerk to you since the moment you got there? Always asking you for alcohol? Making inappropriate comments?"

"What? No. He's been nothing but nice and he's never said anything like that to me. He said he's been in recovery for over seven years."

"What? I'm sorry are we talking about the same person who caused my mother's death and made my life a living nightmare?"

"I believe so, but you know what they say. People change."

"Yeah, I guess that's true, I just never imagined he would." I sighed.

"He told me to tell you that he'd like to make his amends to you in person. He said it's important for his AA program."

"He does AA?"

"Yes, he does meetings online over video chat. I set it up for him every morning and every night."

"Well I will save your number and think about it. Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome." She said.

I hung up and grabbed my crutches. I limped to the kitchen and ran into my sponsor. I was still staying at her house since the incident happened.

"Hey Liv, are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"My father is dying and he wants to make amends with me." I sat down.

"You wanna go to a meeting?" She asked.

"Yeah. I definitely need one." I agreed.

"Ok, just let me get dressed and I'll drive."

"Ok, thanks." I sighed. Then my phone rang again and this time it was my sponsee, Tracy. I picked it up and took her call. "Hello?"

"Liv? I need your help." She whispered.

"Are you ok?"

"My boyfriend and I got in a bad fight and he locked me out of the apartment. I need a place to stay tonight."

"Ok sweetie, I'm on my way. Just walk outside the building and wait for us ok?"

"Ok, thanks Liv." She said.

I hung up the phone and explained the situation to my sponsor, who was more than willing to help me out. We got in the car and immediately made our way to Tracy's apartment building. We saw her standing out front. She had a black eye and a bruise on her knee.

I knew she wouldn't recognize my sponsor's car, so I rolled down the window and waved to her. She put her hood up and walked into the car keeping her head down.

"Do you wanna tell us what happened?" I asked her.

"Not right now." She said keeping her black hair in her face.

"That's ok. Are you hungry? Is there anything you need?" I asked.

"No. Not really." She sighed.

"Ok well we were on our way to a meeting, do you wanna come with us?"

"Do I have to share?"

"Not unless you want to." Gia said.

"I guess I could tag along." Tracy said.

We drove to the meeting and Gia helped her out of the car. Once it started they asked who wanted to share and I raised my hand.

"Hi, I'm Liv. I'm an alcoholic." I said.

"Hi Liv." Everyone said.

"So, I got an unexpected phone call this morning, it was from my father's hospice nurse. Apparently he tracked me down and his nurse said he wants to make amends with me before he passes. Apparently he's sober now and even attends online AA meetings. I mean, I know this program only works if everyone does their part, but I'm torn. I mean, this man never got caught for what he did to my mom, never faced any consequences for what he did to me, and for all I know he could've done worse things after I left. I don't owe him anything, right? On the other hand, it's my duty to help other people in the program and the nurse said he's really turned his life around and has been super nice to her. So now I have this big decision to make, and only a very short time to make it. I'm afraid that I'll regret it if I don't do this, but if I do, I'll feel like I'll be betraying my mother. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but at least now that I'm sober I can make this decision with a clear head. Thank you."

Everyone clapped and as things settled down, my sponsor asked who else wanted to share. Tracy quietly raised her hand and she called on her.

"Hi, I'm Tracy. I'm an alcoholic."

"Hi Tracy." They all said.

"Well I, I don't know where to start." She sighed. "My son is in foster care, and while I know he's safe and with a nice family, I just can't get on my feet. I started living with a random guy I met on a dating site just to have a roof over my head. Unfortunately today, he found a baby picture of my son and got mad that I never said anything to him, so he threw me out. Now that I don't have a place of residence, there's no way I'm going to get him back. I was so close to having enough money to get an apartment too, now I have to dip into my savings for a hotel. I'm feeling lost now, and I don't know what I can do to fix it, but what I'm doing sure isn't working. Thank you."

Everyone clapped and once the meeting was over, I went to talk to talk to Tracy.

"Hey, are you doing alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah, sharing about it really helped. Thanks for bringing me here." Tracy said.

"Of course, any time." I smiled.

"Maybe him throwing me out was a bit of a wake up call. I need to stop waiting for things for happen and actually make things happen."

"That's sounds like a great idea, maybe you should start looking for a job, then we can get you a place to live."

"I've been delivering food and groceries as a side hustle, but I only have my bike so I can't take the big orders that give the good tips." She sighed.

"Maybe we should look for something more stable." I said. "Hey I'll tell you what, my apartment is on the 3rd floor and my building doesn't have an elevator, so I haven't been able to stay there. Maybe you could make some money house sitting for me?"

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah, you can water my plants, collect my mail, clean, get things from the apartment for me, stuff like that."

"And you'll let me sleep there too?"

"Of course, at least until my leg gets better, but I'll be on crutches for at least three more weeks. Plus it's right in the city center, so that means you can still do your deliveries."

"That would be amazing!" She immediately broke down in tears and gave me a hug. "Thank you."

I hugged her and rubbed her back. I knew she was going through a lot right now, but I was glad I could get her off the streets at least for a few weeks anyway.

Lloyd's P.O.V:

I was in the middle of my therapy session. I had just gotten done talking to Ryder about an hour ago and I was feeling super anxious about the trial tomorrow.

"How are we feeling today Lloyd?" Ava asked.

"I'll be honest, I'm kind of nervous." I said.

"And why is that?"

"Jet's trial is tomorrow and I don't know if I'm ready to be in the same room with me again."

"I imagine your wife also feels this way?"

"If anything she feels worse. She has to give a testimony."

"Are you afraid that seeing him again will bring out all the bad memories that come with what happened the night of the shooting?"

"Yeah, I just can't shake it. What if he doesn't get justice? Skylor said there's only a little bit of evidence from the crime scene and that little bit we have might not be enough to convict him."

"Well the best thing you can do is be there for your wife, and I'm sure she'll do the same for the you."

"Yeah, she always does, but this time I'm not so sure." I sighed.

"How so?"

"The closer we get to the trial, the more anxious she gets." I sighed. "The accident changed a lot of things, and our relationship has been has suffering because of it. This is really eating away at her and honestly we're really just trying to get it over with."

"Has your relationship gotten any better since Jet was put behind bars?"

"Yeah, we've been doing ok, and I think once we get justice for our baby and the kids return home, everything else will work itself out."

***On the island***

Zera's P.O.V.:

I had taken Wyatt back to the nearest cave. I laid him against the wall and made a small fire to keep us warm. My brother looked really out of it, but I don't think he was hurt that badly.

I waited with him for hours until I saw him squirm. I ran over to him as he started coming to.

"Zera?" He opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around. "You saved me? Why?"

"You may a jerk sometimes, but you're still my brother." I said.

"I guess I should say thank you, but I'm not very good at it." He said.

"Anyway, do you feel alright?"

"I'm a little scratched up but I'll be fine. I'll tell you one thing, I won't be messing with that girl again."

"From what I understand the Oni form is something the Garmadon kids get. I didn't know she could do that though."

"Look, I know neither one of us wants anything to do with each other, but like it or not, I'm family."

"Well I did used to think that, but then I saw us during that fight together." He said. "Our powers are so strong separately, but can you imagine how strong they would be together?"

"Well you know what they say. Control time..."

"Control everything." He finished.

Ashley's P.O.V.:

I was sound asleep until I woke up to the sound of someone grunting. I looked around and saw Trent struggling and holding his injured side. I felt so bad that I couldn't help him. I couldn't bear to see him like that.

"Trent? Are you ok?" I whispered to him.

"I'm fine, just some trouble sleeping is all" He said still holding his side.

"Are you having trouble breathing again? Your parents sent an emergency inhaler with the stuff your sister brought back."

"No it's not that, it just hurts." He struggled.

At that point, I couldn't stand it anymore. I took a deep breath and tried to make my powers work again. I focused all my energy on healing his rib. After a few minutes my hand glowed a light blue and I was able to heal him a little, but I was only able to hold it for a little less than a minute before I had to stop.

"Sorry, my powers still aren't fully back yet." I said catching my breath.

"That's ok. It helped a little." He said. "Thanks Ashley."

"So um, are you planning on going back to them?"

"I don't know yet. I only left because I didn't want you to be mad at me."

"Mad at you? Why?"

"Because I'm the reason you lost your powers. I couldn't handle you hating my guts, so when they kidnapped me I told them I could be an asset to them. They only let me in because I'm related to Master Chen."

"Yeah I know that, but what why would I ever hate you? I could never do that."

"I thought you were devastated about loosing your powers."

"I wasn't upset about loosing my powers, I was devastated about loosing you." I grabbed his hand. "I love you."

"Really? You do?"

"I think on some level I always have, I'm sorry it took me this long to realize it."

We looked into each other's eyes and he leaned in and kissed me on the lips. All I could do was smile.

"I... I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that. I..."

"It's ok." I smiled and held his hand. "It felt... right. You know?"

"Yeah, it did." He smiled back. "So what do you think? If I agree to stay, can we move past this whole thing and try to make this work?"

"You gotta take me out to dinner first." I laughed.

"Deal. As soon as we get back home, it's a date." He agreed.

"Hopefully we won't have to wait too long. I overheard that Wyatt kid say that there was a way off the island, like a portal somewhere we haven't found yet."

"Really? We should go look!" Trent said.

"You mean right now?" I asked.

"Yeah, we can take the flashlights that my parents sent with my sister. If we find it by morning, we could be home by tomorrow.

"I don't know. It'll really freak Ethan out if we aren't here when he wakes up."

"Come on, this is my way to make it up to the team for leaving like I did. If we find a way home, I can prove to them I'm not a weak link. Please?"

"Fine, but we need to be back before the sun comes up. I've scared my brothers enough today." I looked at Ethan and Ryder over there sleeping.

"Ok, how about we leave them a note and take a walkie talkie with us? That way they can contact us when they wake up."

"Yeah, good idea." I said.

I grabbed a stick and I wrote a note in the sand for the others. Then I went to the box with our supplies inside and took out one of the walkie talkies and two flashlights. The only problem was I had no idea where to start looking.

"Do you have any idea where to look?" Trent asked as we were trekking through the dark forest.

"No, I didn't catch him say anything, but maybe there's a clue around his hut somewhere." I answered.

"You wanna go back there after what he did to you and me?"

"No, but if we want to get home, it's the only way."

We headed that direction and when we approached the hut. It didn't look like anyone was here, so we broke in and started looking around.

"Wait Ashley, look at this." Trent whispered.

Trent peeled back the bamboo curtains and pointed his flashlight to a carving on the wall. It looked like a map of the island and one particular spot was circled with a dragon of a ninja inside it.

"That's gotta be it." I said. "Does your phone work?"

"No, but luckily my sister bought a digital camera." Trent pulled it out.

He snapped a photo of the map and then we heard a noise coming from outside. It sounded like footsteps.

"They're coming!" I whispered. "Trent, can you get us out using your Airjitsu?"

"No, my side still hurts like crazy, it's too risky."

"Under the cot, now!" I whispered.

We ducked and hid under the bed. We saw Zera's feet walk through the door and heard her lay something heavy on the bed.

"I know you can't hear me Wyatt, and you probably don't even care, but you're the only family I have left. I hope we can be true siblings one day."

We saw Zera's feet sit on the rock at the other end of the hut. We waited a bit until she fell asleep and then we tried to sneak out, but Trent tripped and fell on the ground. Luckily he didn't wake Wyatt or Zera, but Trent held his side as helped him up.

I quickly grabbed him and helped him walk outside and sat him down behind a large tree. He looked like he was in pain. I took a deep breath and put my hands next to his injured side. I know my powers weren't fully back yet, but maybe if I try hard enough I can at least relieve his pain a little.

"Ashley, you don't have to if you wanna save your powers for something more important." Trent said, still holding his side.

"No, you're hurt and I wanna help." I said. "Now hold still."

He nodded and moved his hand out of the way. I managed to use my power a little and it looked like he was feeling better after a few minutes. I tried to keep it up, but I exhausted my power and couldn't keep it going.

"Sorry." I caught my breath.

"That's ok, it feels better." Trent said. "We should get back to camp."

"Yeah, can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now." Trent said. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just tired. I can make it." I said.

We got up and started walking back to camp, but then we bumped into someone running in the opposite direction. Upon closer inspection, we saw who it was.

"Amber?" Trent said.

"Ryder?" I whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Amber crossed her arms.

"I woke up to use the bathroom and I saw your note in the sand. I figured you came here." Ryder explained.

"Really cause I remember putting in that note to not come looking for us." I said.

"Yeah, not gonna happen." Ryder crossed his arms.

"What were you thinking?" Amber said to Trent. "The last time you faced him you almost got pummeled to death."

"It was my idea, ok?" I frowned. "I thought if I could find a clue that lead us to the portal, then I could get us all home."

"No Ashley, this was all my idea. I wanted to find the portal so I could make up for leaving the team like I did." Trent said. "Ashley just came with me to keep me company."

"Relax guys, you're not in trouble, we just wanted to make sure you guys were ok." Ryder said.

"Well we're fine. Thanks." I rolled my eyes.

"Did you guys manage to find a way back?" Amber asked.

"Yes actually, look at this map we found." Trent showed them the camera.

Ryder looked through the film and his eyes widened. He handed the camera to Amber and her jaw dropped.

"You're sure this map leads to the portal back to Ninjago?" Ryder asked.

"Even if it doesn't, it's the only clue we have." Amber said.

"Right, there's no use wasting any more time. We need to get the team together." Ryder said. "After all this time, we're going home."

Narrator's P.O.V.:

Ashley and Trent followed Amber and Ryder back to camp and told the others. Alex was able to download the picture of the map and then they followed it to where it said the portal was. When they found it, it was filled with a blue light.

"So wait, how are we so sure this thing is going to take us back to back to Ninjago?" Jax asked.

"We don't, but wherever it goes it's gotta be better than here." Allison said.

Alex opened the panel on the side of the portal and the scanned it. "These settings seem to be set to the coordinates somewhere in Hiroshi's Labyrinth. Maybe if I adjust the settings I can get us back to the monastery."

"Wait, try to get it back to the treehouse. I think I have a plan." Ryder said.

"Affirmative." Alex nodded and started adjusting the wires.

"And just where do you think you're going?" They heard a voice behind them.

They turned around and saw Wyatt, Zera, and the entire VKA standing behind them. Ashley started to take a fighting stance, but Ryder held her back.

"We found a way back to Ninjago." Ryder said to them. "If you want, you can come with us. We know you're tired of being on this island, and so are we. We can get off this island together."

"I mean, we are running out of food here." Seth said to his team.

"What do you think?" Zera looked at Wyatt.

"Go, I want you all off my island anyway." He said.

"Wait, I..."

Before Zera could finish her sentence, a tremor hit and the ground started shaking.

"Everyone! Get away from the walls!" Ryder shouted.

Everyone scattered towards the middle of the cave and huddled together. Wyatt was trying to run towards the exit, but the rocks were collapsing in front of him.

Olivia noticed and ran over to him. She teleported him to the center of the alcove and then the tremor stopped. They all stopped to survey the damage.

"Is everyone ok?" Ryder asked.

"You saved me?" Wyatt looked at Olivia. "Why?"

"It's what ninja do." Olivia smiled.

"Alex, did everyone make it?" Ryder asked.

"Everyone is accounted for, but it seems the portal has taken damage." Alex said.

"Can you fix it?" Ryder asked.

"Luckily it is only minor damage, but it will take approximately two hours to repair." Alex said looking in the panel of the portal. "Thankfully I brought my dad's tools with me."

"Ok, get started." Ryder said. "Allison, are those rocks stable?"

"They're stable but they're air tight." Allison said inspecting the wall of rocks now blocking the only way in. "If I try to move them with my power it could trigger another quake."

"That wouldn't be helpful." Marcus frowned.

"Alex, do we have enough air to survive in here until you repair the portal?" Ryder asked.

"According to my calculations, between this many people the oxygen levels will last between three  and four hours." Alex said.

"Ok, it's gonna be close. We'll help you any way we can, but it looks like we'll have to wait this one out." Ryder said. "Hang in there guys, we're almost home."