Today was a great day. Or, it was going to be a great day. I was going to be home with my brother and my friends and I was going to try to enjoy life again. I was going to have a life.

Cole had picked me up only a short while ago and we rode back in an actual car and not a dragon since I did have a bag with me. Once we got to the monastery, Cole flew me up on his dragon since the walk was hefty and soon I found myself standing in the foyer of the monastery. I didn't see any of the guys, but Cole had told me that they went to the city to train at Dareth's dojo and pick up some supplies for dinner. That meant that my first afternoon back was full of peace and quiet, something I'm sure Cole did on purpose.

"Y/N!" Nya cheered, hugging me tight and holding me for comfort. I felt safe and secure in her arms. When she let go of the me, Nya grinned, "Couldn't resist and had to come back for more, huh?" she joked around, earning a small smile from me and an eye roll from Cole. "Alright alright, let's just get your stuff unpacked," he directed, already leading the way with my bag in his hands. Nya huffed, "You're no fun, Cole. I'm not as bad as the guys. Y/N actually likes me," she giggled.

I chuckled, "The guys aren't that bad. Just... kind of loud," I muttered. Cole sighed, "Well, I've talked to them about that. So from here on out, just know that the monastery is a guaranteed safehouse and the guys will keep the noise down."

"And if you need any guidance, I will do my best to provide it," Sensei Wu's voice rang out. I turned and saw him peacefully sitting against the wall with a cup of tea. In front of him sat his spirit smoke. "No hug, Sensei?" I said with a small life, careful not to overstep my boundaries. He smiled and stood quickly. His arms wrapped around me and I relaxed, feeling incredibly safe at this moment. I welcomed it. "Thank you, Sensei. I needed that," I smiled. He nodded and patted me on the shoulder, then kissing me lightly on the forehead. "Anytime, now go get unpacked and comfortable. This is your home."

I beamed, then following Cole back to my room. He threw an arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to him, "Glad to have you back, sis," he told me before opening the door to my room and allowing me to walk inside.

Nothing had changed. All my stuff remained untouched but my sheets and comforter looked freshly washed - something I assumed Zane and Nya were responsible for. There was also a small basket on my dresser with my favorite candies and two new books to read. I smiled, watching as Cole placed the bag on my bed. "Do you need any help unpacking?"

I shook my head, "No, I-I should be fine."

Anxiety ripped through my bones. When I looked around me, I was reminded of what happened. I lived with six men and a girl, and I was terrified because of what one man did to me. I was afraid to be around ninja whose job was to protect me. Whose one job was to protect each other.

"I know it's bringing back those thoughts, Y/N," Cole said from my doorway where he leaned against it to talk to me. I sat on my bed and looked at him, "Yeah... a little. It's not against you or the guys, Cole. I really wanted to be back here, but it's harder than I thought."

"Well we're going to make things as easy as we can, okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

I looked around, smiling at the pictures framed on the wall of me and the guys, me and Lloyd, me and the girls. Everyone. We were happy. I was happy. 

"I'm just not the same as I was before," I breathed out, picking up a frame from my desk and softly smiling at the picture of Cole and I. Cole nodded, "And no one is asking you to be. We just want you to be okay."

I placed the picture down and flopped on my bed, seeing Cole laugh. "So the unpacking isn't getting done right now," he bellowed. I giggled, "Never on the first day, you know that."

"Yeah, yeah," he laughed. 

There was a small silence between us and I sat up on my bed, taking a look around the room that I missed so dearly. The room that my brother and his friends had worked so hard to put together for me when my life was going rough. Cole sighed, then patting the door frame. "I'm going to go call C/G/N and tell her you're home so if you need me I'll be in my room. Or just shout for me. My ears have been finely tuned since everything that happened."

I softly smiled, "You're not the only one," I whispered, my muscles tensing as I stared down at my feet. Cole walked into my room and kissed my forehead, "It's going to be fine. You're going to get better in time, and then we can discuss what to do next. Alright?" 

I nodded, watching as Cole exited the room and went across the hall to his room where he opened the door and then kept it open, perhaps to calm my fears and reassure me he was there for me.

I stood up, hearing Cole talking softly with his girlfriend in the other room. I turned when I heard a ding from my phone and I pulled it out of my bag, seeing a welcome home message from C/G/N. I smiled, then tossing the phone back onto my bed and walking across the hall to Cole's room. "Hey," I muttered, him looking up from where he was laying on his bed with his phone on his chest and his earbuds in, "Your girlfriend is very kind to me, I appreciate her," I told him. He beamed wide, "What did she do?"

"She texted me a nice message welcoming me home. I'm glad you found her, Cole. I'm glad you're happy."

Cole smiled wider than I have ever seen, "Thanks, Y/N. I'm really glad you like her."

I giggled softly and left his room as he began to thank his girlfriend for making me and him happy and suddenly I found myself in front of Lloyd's door. The door was slightly ajar and I paused before it. I knew he wasn't home, but there was a small part of me that longed so much for him, just any thing that reminded me of him. And so I pushed open the door and stepped inside. 

My anxiety rose and I felt like I was trespassing. The negative thoughts that have plagued my mind for weeks made me feel like Lloyd would hate me if I entered his room though I knew that would never happen. Lloyd didn't hate me. 

I stepped past the doorframe slowly and entered his room which was exactly as I remembered it. His desk was a little messy and I softly smiled, walking over to it and moving things around. I stacked his notebooks to the side and closed his laptop before pushing it to the back and I returned all the pens and pencils to the cup on his desk. 

As I was organizing, I noticed a new picture on his desk. It was a photo of him and I that I have never seen and I believe that Jay took that on one of the monastery's outings to the park. Lloyd and I were playing frisbee with the others and Lloyd had tossed it too far so Cole and Kai challenged each other to see who would reach it first and then Lloyd spun me around into him and hugged me. Jay captured the moment. I was standing in front of Lloyd as he held my hands in front of him and looked down at me with a beaming smile. We were both laughing.

A soft smile formed on my lips at the notice of the picture and I traced my thumb over our hands on the image.

"Hey," a soft voice said which startled me quite a bit. I froze, closing my eyes tight and taking a deep breath, then placing the photo exactly where I found it. I knew it was Lloyd, but my mind didn't go there first, it first went to the last encounter I had with someone startling at the monastery. It went to him.

I turned slowly, seeing Lloyd standing behind me with his hands sheepishly in his pockets and his head slightly down. The ninja must have all returned. "I-I can go," I whispered as I neared the door. I neared the door when he spoke again, "Please don't."

I turned back around and saw him looking at me with sad eyes. "Please," he begged, "Just talk to me."

I pursed my lips and stared at my hands, "I didn't think you wanted me to," I admitted. Lloyd frowned, "Did... did you leave because of me?"

My heart pounded in my chest and my throat tightened. I didn't want to answer him, but he deserved an answer. I think he saw me overwhelmed because he took a heavy breath and stared back at the floor. "You don't have to answer it if you don't want to. I mean, I kind of know the answer already."

"I thought you were mad at me, Lloyd," I muttered. He looked ashamed. "With everything that happened... I didn't want to be around someone who was mad at me... o-or a ton of guys. So I went back to Aunt Kelly."

Lloyd shook his head and sat down on his bed, leaving plenty of room next to him. I glanced at the door that was wide open and I felt a little better, so I joined him on his bed and sat down next to him. "Y/N," he started, looking over at me and softly smiling. "If you had asked me for time or told me you would talk when you were ready than I would have respected it. I stayed distant from you because I thought you didn't like me, or wanted to stay away from me or something. I feel like it's my job to comfort you and I haven't been doing that lately."

A tear fell from my eye and I immediately wiped it away. My feelings were confusing me. I was happy to be talking with Lloyd, but I didn't want to be happy. I wanted to be indifferent. I wanted to process everything. "I know," I dryly chuckled, shaking my head at my own demise. I should have just asked him for time instead of shutting him out. This was my fault.

"I want to tell you everything," I said quietly. Lloyd grabbed my hands and stared at me with a smile. I looked at our hands with a grin and looked up at his green eyes. "Only if you're ready. I'm here for you always," he said, then scooching back on his bed. I curled up into him, resting my head on his sweatshirt and hearing his heart beat. He wrapped an arm around me and at first I tensed up but I soon relaxed into his touch and gripped his jacket with my fist. 

I told him everything. Everything that happened to me at that house or wherever we were. I told him how Z/G/N helped me immensely. I told him how we talked through the night and comforted each other even though we didn't know if we would get out. I told him what the man did to me and that I fought back. I emphasized that part. I fought back. Cole would be proud of me. Lloyd was proud of me. I only shed a few tears during our talk. I felt good. I felt strong.

Lloyd's hand would tighten on my shoulder when he was angry. He was ashamed that he had let something like this happen to me. But it wasn't his fault. There was nothing he could have done.

I talked for about thirty minutes and when I was done, Lloyd whispered encouraging things in my ear and kissed my forehead, holding me stead against him. We sat in a comforting silence for a bit and it was nice. I closed my eyes and I took steady breaths, nearly falling asleep.

However, Jay burst into the room and I opened my eyes once Lloyd said "Jay," in annoyance and in two seconds the blue ninja had lept onto me and hugged me. I was only startled but I welcomed the hug, returning it to him and messing with his hair. "I missed you, Y/N! Never leave again!" he ridiculed before pulling me off of Lloyd. Lloyd groaned, "What happened to Cole's peace and quiet rule for at least four days?"

Jay huffed, "I had to hug, Y/N. Dramatically! Plus dinner is ready and Cole sent me to tell Y/N and she wasn't in her room so I came here. You can get your girlfriend time after dinner," he simply stated. Lloyd rolled his eyes and walked to his dresser, pulling out one of his hoodie's - the one I had returned to him. "This is yours. And you were shivering earlier so..." 

I smiled and took the hoodie, slipping it over my head and following Jay out of the room with Lloyd next to me. "Oh, your dad is here, Y/N!" Jay mentioned as we neared the kitchen. "What?" I asked, stopping in my tracks. "B-but I thought he had a dance competition."

"He cancelled because he wanted to see his beautiful daughter," a new voice said. My dad rounded the corner and I smiled, immediately hugging him. I hadn't seen him in almost a month. I missed him, I needed him. "I love you, Y/N. I wasn't missing your homecoming, come on," he laughed. I firmly hugged him and pulled away after a moment, "I missed you, too, Dad. I can't believe you're here."

We all walked to the kitchen and Zane and Kai gave me hugs, but the large group setting overwhelmed me. I sat next to Lloyd and Cole during dinner and ate mostly silently, only answering people's questions about volleyball and college (as they were clearly trying to keep my mind off my ordeal) and I listened to their conversations. The dinner went well. I smiled nearly the entire thing and I nodded a lot as my dad talked about dance and asked questions about C/G/N to Cole. All the ninja talked about the dates they had recently went on with their girlfriend's or how they were doing. Overall the dinner was great, and Zane had made my favorite meal and treated me like royalty. Everyone was being conscious to what had changed and were being respectful.

However, by the end of dinner my social battery had completely exhausted itself. I wanted nothing more than to leave and go lay down. I loved the company but I needed a break.

My dad had left and I gave him a big hug and promised to return that weekend since I had to go back to school this week, starting in a few days since it was Friday, so I had a few days to prepare. Once my dad had left, I began to help clean up, taking the dirty plates and placing them in the sink. When I reached for Zane's empty plate, he smiled, "You do not need to worry about cleaning up, Y/N," he told me, reminding me that everyone had a specific night to do dishes. "Are you sure? I-I don't mind, Zane," I said. He shook his head, "Of course not, Y/N. Tonight is my night, you do not have to worry about it."

I nodded. I noticed Cole looking at me worriedly but I brushed it off and tugged at the sleeves of my - Lloyd's - hoodie. "Uh, c-can I be excused? I'm going to lay down. Today has been a lot."

Cole nodded, "You don't have to ask, sis. I'll check on you later," he told me. I smiled, returning his nice one and I turned around to leave to the hallway. "She's okay, Cole," I heard Nya say, reassuring him that I would be fine. I entered my room and slipped my jeans off to switch into a pair of gray sweatpants and I crawled into my bed, completely forgetting about the light but being too lazy to turn it off.

I pulled the covers over myself and yanked the hood over my head to push all my hair back and laid my head on a pillow. I left my door open to feel a little safer and as soon as I closed my eyes I heard a soft knock on the doorframe and I peeked my eyes open to see Lloyd smiling, "Dead social battery?" he grinned. I hummed, "Tonight was a lot," I responded. "It was good, but a lot."

Lloyd sighed, turning the light off and seeing a small nightlight in the corner and he smiled, coming to lay next to me and covering us both with the blanket. He laid down and I curled next to him, feeling his warmth and listening to his heartbeat. "Are you okay?" he whispered, glancing at me as I stared at the nightlight in the corner of the room. I lightly shook my head, "No," I admitted. Lloyd tensed, "But I will be," I breathed out, closing my eyes.

Lloyd killed my forehead, "I know you will."

"Tell me about what happened at the monastery. I know they gave you a hard time. Tell me."

Lloyd chuckled softly, "Alright, this should put you to sleep."

As Lloyd talked about how everyone split into two sides, I listened to his heartbeat, hearing its steady rhythm. I listened to ho whe felt alone and isolated because my brother was upset at him. But then I heard how him and Cole made up and apologized to each other and made a new promise to work with each other to protect me. 

I fell asleep listening to him talk to me. I missed his voice, I missed his warmth, his comfort, everything. I felt better that night.

I didn't notice Cole leaning against the doorframe smiling as Lloyd talked to me.