It had been nearly two weeks since Y/N had left the monastery and everything was different. Cole had been moping around, refusing to converse with Lloyd and the home was still very divided. Sensei Wu had done his part and had forced the team to at least train together, but what use was that when they still weren't talking to one another? Lloyd was internally struggling since no one seemed to care what he thought about his girlfriend leaving. No one even bothered to ask. They simply cast blame on him as if he wanted her to leave. He didn't know how to comfort her, all he knew what to do was tell her everything would be alright but everything wasn't alright, so clearly he was at a loss.

His girlfriend didn't want his help and he didn't know how to give it, nor did he want to push her past her breaking point. It was his duty as a boyfriend to help her, not hurt her. Cole was angry at him for not being who she needed but Lloyd didn't recognize the girl he loved. She was different, closed off, hurting. Cole couldn't even help her, her own brother, so how would he be able to?

All the ninja sat at the table in the monastery to take their lunch break from training. Nya had made sandwiches before retreating into the city to gather materials for her newest project that she was going to tackle with J/G/N at the autobody shop to try and get the blue ninja's girlfriend's mind off of everything.

It was when Cole was reading through the newspaper that his cell phone rang in the middle of the table. He didn't look up for he was distracted by the reading and instead it was Kai who cleared his throat, looking at the lit up screen on display to everyone. "Cole," Kai said, pushing the device toward the ninja, "Your sister is calling."

Lloyd stared at Cole as his face lit up and he rushed to grab the device before it stopped ringing. He immediately answered it, not having spoken to Y/N in the two week since she had powered off her phone to stabilize her mental health. "Hey, sis," Cole smiled softly, placing the phone on speaker and putting it in the center of the table. "Hey, Y/N," everyone chorused, happy to hear from the girl they had grown close with in the past few months she had been living with them. Lloyd stayed silent.

A light laugh emerged from the other end of the phone and Jay grinned, nudging Zane in the shoulder who nodded. "Hey, guys," she softly said, her voice being a little harsh. "How is everything?"

"We should be asking you that," Kai chuckled, "All is good here, what about you?"

Y/N shrugged on her end, sitting on her bed at Aunt Kelly's and fumbling with her fingers. "I-it's okay," she said quietly. "I'm getting better. I turned on my phone for the first time today and all the girls have been sending me motivational quotes every days so I've been pretty busy responding," she responded, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. The ninja all smiled and Lloyd grinned, biting his lower lip and wondering if he should say something. "We are so glad to hear it, Y/N," Jay said. "Yes, we miss you here," Zane added. Cole smiled appreciatively at his teammates, feeling warmed at the sound of his brothers encouraging his sister. "You said you're getting better?" Cole wondered.

Y/N nodded, collapsing onto her back and staring at her fan rotating on her ceiling. "I didn't have a nightmare last night and I went on a run yesterday," she answered, "Only a mile, I promise, Cole," she quickly added, knowing her brother was still worried about her health. "That's great, Y/N," Cole beamed. "And I've been talking to Hines and we're figuring out my volleyball stuff for college. Aunt Kelly thought it would be a good idea to think about my future. She said it would encourage me to get better and stop thinking about... about that," she said, whispering the last part of her statement. "Aunt Kelly is right, Y/N. We are so proud of you," Zane said.

"When do you think you're ready to come back?" Jay questioned, "We miss you here! I miss your subpar jokes and you pranking us with Lloyd," he cheerfully said. Y/N giggled, "I miss you guys, too. Like... a lot," she sighed.

"So... what does that mean?" Kai encouraged, a smile growing on his face and exchanging looks with his friends. Lloyd stood up from his seat, earning a frown from Cole. He turned and placed his dish in the sink, then grabbing a water bottle and drinking it while leaning against the counter. "Can I come home?"

Cole smiled the widest anyone had ever seen him and Lloyd couldn't hide the grin on his face. "Ugh, finally!" Cole called out, hearing his sister laugh joyously on the other end. "Please come back! As soon as possible!"

"Does everyone want me back? W-what about Lloyd?"

Lloyd swallowed nervously.

"What about him, Y/N?" Kai asked.

The girl stuttered, suddenly becoming very nervous and her anxiety rising. She sat up and pulled her legs close to her, "I-I don't know. I miss him, but I don't know if he's mad at me. I don't want to come back if he is."

Cole rolled his eyes, "Why would he be mad at you? Do you want to talk to him? I can give him the phone," Cole offered, already glaring at the blonde who turned around and faced the wall in sadness.

There was silence on the other end and the ninja looked around in confusion. Jay picked up the phone and looked at it to make sure Y/N hadn't hung up and it showed the call was still active. "Y/N?" Jay asked.

They heard the girl sniffle and things move around on the other end and finally there was a voice. "No, I just..."

She paused again, an awkward silence filling the room. "I don't think he wants to talk to me," she finally whispered. "Why..." Cole began, stopping his sentence before saying something he didn't mean. "Hey," he said calmly. He needed to make sure his sister knew her worth, that she knew that everyone in the monastery cared for her and didn't want her to do anything that would set her back a few sets. "Why would you think that?"

Y/N shook her head before sighing, "I-I don't know?" she said, phrased like a question. She felt a tear slip her eye and she sniffled before dryly laughing. The ninja looked at each other and they knew that she had been trying to hold it together. "A-about the question that the guy asked me? I want Lloyd to know that –"

"- Hey," Cole interrupted, shaking his head. "Don't do that, don't blame yourself for this. Nothing that happened was your fault and Lloyd knows that," he confirmed. There was no response from the other end of the phone. "Do you understand that Y/N?"

She slowly nodded, "Y-yeah. I think so."

No one said a word but Lloyd retuned to the bench and sat beside Jay who looked at him in reassurance, a small smile on his face. Lloyd slowly nodded before looking back at the table. Cole refused to make eye contact with him. "I miss you guys," Y/N whispered.

"We miss you, too, Y/N," Zane joined in. "Yeah, a lot," Kai chimed in, emphasizing the "a lot" in hopes that Y/N could understand that they wanted her back more than anything. The girl chuckled. "Tell me you haven't been too hard on Lloyd, Cole," she said softly. He groaned, earning a laugh from Jay, "Oh, just you wait," Jay said, earning a shove from Kai and a warning glare.

"We'll talk about it when you get back. What do you say I pick you up tomorrow afternoon? Or is that too soon?" Cole suggested. Y/N shook her head, a large smile on her face as she jumped up and opened a drawer to begin putting things into her bag. "That's perfect. I can't wait to see you guys. I-it might take a little while for me to get used to it again, but I can't wait."

"We will make sure you are comfortable, Y/N," Zane assured her.

"Yeah! And we'll give you all the time you need!" Jay called out.

She giggled, "Thank you."

Cole looked at Lloyd, giving him the chance to say something before the call ended. He owed it to Y/N.

Lloyd gulped and grabbed the phone, "H-hey, Y/N," his voice shattered. Jay patted him on the back and he nodded slightly. The other end was silent. "Lloyd?" a quiet voice said, a voice that was so soft that the ninja barely heard it. "Hey," Lloyd replied.

"Did you hear the whole call?" she whispered. Lloyd took a deep breath and softly chuckled, "Uh, yeah, I did. I just didn't say anything."

"Oh," she said, a frown falling onto her face as she ridiculed herself for everything said about Lloyd while he was right next to her. "I-I'm really sorry. I didn't mean – "

"Don't apologize, hey," Lloyd said while shaking his head. "I just... I don't know, I don't really have an excuse for not calling or texting you. Can I call you from my phone?"

Y/N nodded silently before realizing he couldn't see her and she exhaled a shaky breath, "Yeah, I'm just packing up my stuff. You can call me."

Lloyd smiled, "Alright, uh, give me a minute and I'll call you."

"Promise?"

Cole stared at Lloyd, hoping he didn't make the same mistake as he did the day Y/N left when he was reluctant to promise her that he would go lay down with her. But this time, he didn't hesitate. "I promise."

Y/N smiled wide, collapsing onto the chair in the corner of the room and feeling happier than she had in the past three weeks. Lloyd slid the phone back into the middle of the table in the center of all the ninja.

"Alright, you got all of us here," Cole told her. "I'll say goodbye now then so I can talk to Lloyd," she said. "I-I mean, if that's alright."

Cole laughed, "That's fine, sis."

"We miss you!" Jay called out. "We can't wait to see you tomorrow," Kai added. Zane nodded, "Yes, and I will make your favorite dish for dinner!"

Y/N giggled, "Thank you, Zane. Thank all of you, guys. I miss you, and I'll see you tomorrow."

The call ended and Lloyd stood up quickly, retreating to his room where he could go call Y/N. The door shut behind him and he collapsed onto his bed with a smile as he opened her contact to call her.

Back in the kitchen, Cole smiled and shoved his dishes into the sink, "I can't wait for her to get home," he beamed. Jay nodded, "Looks like Lloyd redeemed himself, too."

Kai scoffed, "Yeah, I for one can't wait for the tensions in here to go down a little. Training has been a mess." Zane nodded in agreement, "You are right, Kai. I think Y/N being back will ease the tension, and Lloyd finally looks happy."

"I just can't believe Y/N thought he was mad at her," Cole sighed, leaning against the countertop. Kai narrowed his eyebrows, "Yeah, what was she talking about? The question that the guy asked Lloyd?"

Cole sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "That guy, he uh, he said for Lloyd to ask Y/N who was better at... kissing her. I think it hit Y/N hard and she believes that Lloyd is mad at her for some reason and that she is the bad guy. I-I don't know. It's hard for me to put myself in Y/N shoes and to understand where she's coming from, but I think that she thinks that she is at fault for everything that happened. I'm still trying to come to terms that someone did that to my sister but I know that as hard as it is for me, it's ten times harder for her, and probably Lloyd, too."

Kai clapped Cole on the shoulder, "Well, she'll be home tomorrow, and then you can give her the hug you need and make sure she knows that you'll protect her no matter what. Just dwell on that."

Cole smiled, "Yeah, you're right. Now let's get back to training, come on," he encouraged, earning a groan from Jay. "But what about the kid? He's got a free pass?"

"He's getting himself out of the doghouse right now. If you don't get training, you'll be putting yourself in it," Cole laughed. Jay huffed, "You think you'd be in a better mood considering your sister is coming back."

All the ninja laughed and training resumed while Lloyd was in his room smiling on the phone with Y/N. Things were looking up.

After this chapter we will continue to the regularly scheduled programming of LloydxReader! And cute stuff, not sad stuff, to come! :)